Showing posts with label Cat Stevens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cat Stevens. Show all posts

Saturday, 8 April 2017

Father & Son

We spent today with the parents-in-law, it was lovely. They told us we were doing a wonderful job with little Wolfie. As first time parents, it is always nice to hear. And... And, well, it is not directly related, but maybe it is, anyway I thought that I would share a song by Cat Stevens tonight. You probably have guessed that I am referring to Father and Son. I have been listening to it far more since I am a dad, obviously this song speaks to me far more now than it ever did.

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Odin the shadowy cat

Last time I blogged about Odin was a little more than a month ago. This has been way too long. I have been blogging about cats inbetween and recently, but it is about time I give my readership a bit of news about my feline friend. And it is Wednesday, the day of his namesake. Not that there is all that much to say about Odin. He enjoys the bush as much as usual. He keeps being fed by the people here and he did gain a few pounds. Which is a very good thing: he was very skinny when I first met him. He is more fussy with food than when I met him: he does not eat as hungrily all the time and sometimes blatantly ignores the part of the dish he does not care about (usually wet food). But he prefers to be around here where he has exclusivity of love and cuddles (and food) than with his owners.Who actually don't mind. I had a drink with them (in the local Irish pub) and they are very friendly. They also had a talk with the evil witch that is the downstairs neighbour, the cat-hating witch and they calmed her worries, telling her a fib about Odin being home most of the time. The witch herself has been more discreet. She is still harboring malevolent ideas and wants to get rid of "that bloody cat", but she tired up every single resident here with her crusade (witch hunt?) and the temperature having dramatically dropped, she spends most of her time indoors, weekdays and weekends. I intend to have a talk to her, if she ever thinks about bullying Odin again, or those who love him.

So Odin is not bothered by her, but I am a bit worried because it is now darker outside earlier and much longer. he is after all a black cat, so easy to miss. But that makes him also easy to hide from preying eyes (I mean witch's eyes). And I keep in mind that he is used to live outside. There is the cold temperature too, but he does not seem to mind either. Not when he is in the shrubs anyway. Even the rain does not bother him there. And the twigs he gets on seem to be a sort of fashion statement, or a social one about his wild nature. Odin in many ways reminds me of the song Moon Shadow by Cat Stevens. He is nocturnal, he is shadowy, he leaps and he hops, he follows you and is barely perceptible. And even though his fur is like a shadow, when he shows up I always think of the lyrics about the faithful light who found me. A song sung by an artist aptly named Cat Stevens. Now every time I listen to the song, I think of him. I know I uploaded Moon Shadow on Vraie Fiction before, but that was a while ago, and tonight I wanted to upload it again as an homage to Odin. I know it sounds really silly. An homage to a cat who has no knowledge whatsoever of homage, and sees me at best as one of his servants. Nevertheless, here it is:

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Tuesday's Dead

I know I uploaded Tuesday's Dead before, but that was years ago. And had not uploaded it on a Tuesday. So as I am feeling very dead after a day of work, this song came to my mind. I comes to my mind every Tuesday, believe it or not, I am that predictable. Cat Stevens had a more profound and spiritual meaning to this song (which he hinted at in this video), but for me it is about the end of a working Tuesday.

Thursday, 21 February 2013

Agony and solace of a working day

Quick post before bedtime, which I will use as a sort of catharsis. I got ridiculously busy today at work, after a bad night of sleep, which I thought would make things worse. They didn't exactly get worse, but I felt clinically dead by the end of the day. I had to stay late too. I had a short and late lunch break. In the middle of the day, one of my colleagues was going to the shop and asked us if we needed anything: ''Sandwich, crisps, chocolate, a Coke?'' I said: ''Just a line or two''. This is a great unknown line if there ever was one, and it illustrates my state of mind. It made people laugh too.

But there were some bright sides to it, little things that cheered me up. Well, one thing: there was a pound coin when I arrived at my usual seat in the morning train. I will buy myself a treat with it. It's not as cool as a Swaziland coin, but still, it did brighten my grey day. When I mentioned on my Facebook wall the hard day at work, my brother gave me a YouTube link to Matthew and Son. I never gave much attention to this song, but just thought that it really illustrated working life pretty well. If there was a song about my day, there would be the coin and craving of chocolate in it. But I hope you enjoy this song, that you find solace in it for every hard day of work.

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Moon Shadow

I am feeling like a bit like a hippy tonight and listening to Cat Stevens, one of my my weekend treats.It is also a remedy from the rubbish we have on TV (that rubbish). So I decided to put Moon Shadow here. It was Cat Stevens's favourite song of  his repertoire and it is still Yusuf Islam's favourite one. I am not sure if it is mine, I love a lot of his songs, but it sure is the song I prefer on a quiet Saturday night. It is simple,soothing, profound. Yusuf Islam might have expressed in Moon Shadow his religious experience of the Muslim he was maybe already turning into, but the song has a serenity that needs no faith to enjoy. Aesthetic is always, at the core, physical.

Friday, 7 October 2011

Se payer la traite

C'est vendredi et j'ai eu une journée épuisante, alors ce soir je me paye la traite. J'ai décidé de suivre le conseil de Cynthia de Sur un Boeing Bleu de Mer) donné ici et de me bourrer la fraise. Au moment où j'écris ces lignes, je mange de la réglisse achetée au magasin de friandises local. Elle est un peu sèche, mais elle est quand même très mangeable. Et j'écoute du Cat Stevens. Le bonheur. Je compte me payer la traite pendant toute la fin de semaine, je ne sais pas trop encore comment, mais je compte me payer la traite. Alors les suggestions sont bienvenues.

Friday, 17 October 2008

Tuesday's Dead

I know it's Friday, but I had this Cat Stevens song in the head since yesterday evening:

Sunday, 24 August 2008

Morning Has Broken

It played at our wedding and I got the song in the head since this morning and I have been singing it since I woke up, for some reason (wedding anniversary coming soon?). I thought I would put it here.