Sabine’s Blog

Minoule

This is my Nously, Minoule, Klatu… We got him from a farm out in the countryside. He was skinny, punny and sick when we got him. That might explain why he is a little shy around people. He cried the whole first night in our appartment. He is 4 and a half year old now: independent, moody and selective about his cuddly moments. But I like him anyway. It is interesting to see how cats carry with them an aura that has fostered mystifying poems from humans… Following are some of my favorite cat-poems.

Le Chat

Viens, mon beau chat, sur mon coeur amoureux;
Retiens les griffes de ta patte,
Et laisse-moi plonger dans tes beaux yeux,
Mêlés de métal et d’agate.
Lorsque mes doigts caressent à loisir
Ta tête et ton dos élastique,
Et que ma main s’enivre du plaisir
De palper ton corps électrique,
Je vois ma femme en esprit. Son regard,
Comme le tien, aimable bête
Profond et froid, coupe et fend comme un dard,
Et, des pieds jusques à la tête,
Un air subtil, un dangereux parfum
Nagent autour de son corps brun.

 Charles Baudelaire
(Les Fleurs du Mal)

‘Cats’

Cats no less liquid than their shadows
Offer no angles to the wind.
They slip, diminished, neat through loopholes
Less than themselves; will not be pinned

To rules or routes for journeys; counter
Attack with non-resistance; twist
Enticing through the curving fingers
And leave an angered empty fist.

They wait obsequious as darkness
Quick to retire, quick to return;
Admit no aim or ethics; flatter
With reservations; will not learn

To answer to their names; are seldom
Truly owned till shot or skinned.
Cats no less liquid than their shadows
Offer no angles to the wind.

— A. S. J. Tessimond

The weather is grey. No sun today. I am feeling a little melancholic… Maybe I should check out the music of Thomas Dybdahl… I like to remember stories around what or who I encouter in my life. Stories about people, music and words. One day last fall, I was strolling in the streets of Oslo, walking randomly up Karl Johans gata. I stepped into a music store because I was looking for some traditional Norwegian folk music. Believe it or not, I was too embarassed to ask (thinking that type of music was probably not very hip). I went around the store and found myself taken by the music playing there at the time. It was beautiful: a sort of sorrowful gospel; a mixture of boy George and Terry Callier. Awesome! I discovered that it was a band I had never heard before called Anthony and the Johnsons. I wrote it down on my hand and looked for it later. A few weeks later, I was at my friend’s in Oslo and all of a sudden she played it! I shared it with my friend in France who ended up putting it on a CD for me.

For Christmas I got a CD of contemporary Norwegian pop music. I only listened to it superficially so far and was ready to dismiss it since I disliked a couple of songs on there. Three days ago, I listened to the French show online called “C’est Lenoir.” He played something that sounded very much like Jeff Buckley but softer. I flashed for it! He compared it to Nick Drake. I learned that it was Thomas Dybdahl from Norway!! Then I realized that it was on the Xmas CD that I thought I did not like!! I also found out that one of his songs is in the Norwegian movie that I like a lot called Monstertorsdag!

When I was in Oslo, I went to see Andrew Bird, the singer from Illinois that I have seen often and like a lot. I have seen him twice in the US. I mentionned the concert to someone at the NFI who said that they had seen a guy called Richard Buckner in the same place, (the Garage). I kept this name in mind until I saw by chance that he was coming to Iowa City in February. I hurried to buy some tickets. The show was great. It was an hour and a half of non stop music. Two guitars and a enchanting voice, beautiful melodies and an hypnotic feel. It was as moving as an Adrew Bird concert but stronger. I was in heaven.

Music is an important part of my life. It fosters emotions and makes my soul vibrate. Like art and cinema, it makes me exist at a complete emotional level. I love to share what I like to listen to and somehow it is very important that the people I like like the music I like. I even believe that I can feel enamoured with someone who shares my musical tastes. Sharing and loving the same music is a whole other way to connect to that person, a very intimate way that is not sexual.
I have a tendency to be attracted to melancholic songs; that is certainly part of my contemplative nature.