november 2011. love.
_editorial
Ah, love! Some people completely fall for it, others think it’s just our hormones working. Whatever it is, many quotes remind us that love helps us achieve great things, and it is widely regarded as the most fulfilling trace for our personal lives. For some reason, though, our boys were a little afraid to contribute this time. Are boys less in love than girls, or are they just afraid to make their love public? It’s funny, but the last time we had this division (even more accentuated) was for the issue on the World Cup (read it here), though that was indeed surprising. But worry not! Even though you’ll find the next pages filled with love, the articles aren’t only about how cute or how sweet the feeling is. In this issue you’ll read about different ways of understanding love, and how being in (or out of) love influences our creative self. It’s time to go out and fall in love (enjoy the closeness to the end of the semester), but first read through this issue of Libertas! DAniel Nunes
Cover, back cover and editorial images are a digital collage made by Carolina Santana with the art works by Priscila Sasaki (1) and Alexandre Fonseca(2).
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_contents 04 Love, Scientifically 06 Spread the love 07 Pigs in maputo 08 Wine festival 12 The meaning of the word 13 On love, aesthetic pleasure and
works of art
15 love 18 romantics make best lovers?
good news
20 30 years of skopje jazz festival 23 love of religion as any other love? 25 hip hop, authenticity and represen-
tation in south africa
27 The 32nd Manaki Brothers film fes-
tival
28 songs of love and hate 30 imaginary interview with giacomo
casanova
Libertas 26 LOVE published november 2011
Ieva Baranova
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ome of us think of love as a mystery or even magic. However, scientists are trying to figure it out. It all started with Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician who first suggested what we now consider obvious --emotions come from the brain. However, it seems that mankind has not gotten any further in studying love since then. Until now, only artists, writers and musicians have offered their explanations to the origins and mysteries of love. The second half of the 20th century saw some progress in the field of scientific discoveries about love. However, each of the scientific schools trying to explain love had at least one of their own major disadvantage facing them. For example, behaviourism relied on empiricism too much and failed to recognize such important aspects
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as faith and desire. Evolutionary psychology ignored everything that was not essential for survival of humankind including friendship and kindness. But on the other hand, it was difficult to present facts about love that is so hard to measure, test or prove. Therefore, the research in this field was caught somewhere between incomplete empiricism and feathery guesswork. At least science tells us why we can’t command our hearts; simply put, neural systems responsible for emotions and intellect are separate, making us suffer and fail to solve the mysteries of love. The real question is, why do we long so much for loving and being loved? One of the views regards love as a condition similar to mental illness. It is proven that some characteristics of love are the same as those of a manic depression, a mental illness that is now fully recognized and can be treated. Although
love is not officially regarded as an illness, it has some dangerous symptoms that can even lead to suicide. Then why is there no remedy against it? Other latest research in the field of love includes brain scanning with MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) technique. The findings are intriguing. People who are in “in love phase” do not resemble crazy people but more likely drug addicts. The neural profile of people in love is closer to thirst, hunger and drug addiction than to emotional conditions like affection or excitement. This research also explains why love induces such diverse emotions, from euphoria to anger and anxiety, and why it sometimes seems to be even more intense when it is gone. Dopamine is a brain chemical that becomes very active when people are in love, also when people gamble and use cocaine. This addiction is something that we share with other mammals. Parting from people you love first evokes protest and then despair. In the animal world we see that a puppy separated from his mother whines and looks for her. If a person is separated from a loved one, he or she calls, writes letters, text messages and is ready to do everything to meet the other person in one way or another. Prolonged separation from a beloved person affects not only feelings, but also many bodily parameters. For example, one’s heart rate, bodily temperature, levels of such hormones as catecholamines and cortisol all increase.. These hormones, including adrenaline, increase
activity and alertness. That is why people often can stay up all night when they are in love. Cortisol is body’s main stress hormone, and its sharp elevation is a great hassle for the body. Therefore, it is not surprising that a breakup can cause physical illness. All this suggests that love is a kind of suffering that we should avoid just like other types of illness. However, this is not as easy as it sounds because we also need love. Friendship and love generates internal opiate release which means that our lovers, friends and family are our everyday tranquillizers. Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love, because different people regulate our hormone levels, sleep rhythms, neurophysiology, and immune function differently. The best option is to find people who regulate you well and try to stay with them, because humans as social creatures cannot be alone. Will science ever be able to explain all love’s mysteries? The answer is of course not, and fortunately so for us. We can’t expect empiricism to reveal all secrets of our souls. Science actually doesn’t deprive love of romance; on the contrary, it shows how central love is in our lives. Entirely scientifically, love is the base of our culture, our personality and our wellbeing. Although voices of scientists and poets sound different, they are saying the same thing, “Love rules the world.” ources: Carey, Benedict. (May 2005). Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain. The New York Times Slater, Lauren (February 2006). Love. National Geographic.; Thomas Lewis; Richard Lannon, Fari Amini (2000). A General Theory of Love. Vintage Books USA. Frank Tallis. (2004). Love Sick: Love as a Mental Illness. Thunder’s Mouth Press. Images: Digital manipulation from illustrations found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevintagecollective/with/4080308532/ and part of a pastel illustration with interferences from http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions
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Spread the
Love
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text and photo Anita Kalmane
We all know that (almost) all of us love our partners, parents, siblings, children and close friends. It is an unconditional love, which (almost) all of us have experienced in our lives and continue experiencing. There is another way to love--loving the world through volunteering!
In the first week of October, I took a part in Baltic Youth Exchange/Conference on Volunteering. While discussing our motivations for volunteering and general aims of volunteerism, one of the participants said “love” and “spread the love”. Doesn’t it sound beautiful? Even more, it IS beautiful! I have been a volunteer for more than five years in two youth organizations and several largescale events. I have organized and attended quite a few events. Although I never thought about it at the time, now I understand that all of us volunteers have really spread the love. For example, love to volunteer, love to spend our time useful, love to develop us and people around us, love to inspire and love to open eyes to a different world. What does it mean to volunteer? It means to help other people in any possible way, to clean the forest in a nation-wide event (like we do in all
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three Baltic states), to play with children in an orphanage on a regular basis, to help out mass media in an ice-hockey championship, to cook for homeless people, to go to an old people’s house and entertain them, to organize a trip for students to another place and introduce them to another culture and so on. Above all, we show the Love without being paid, with a free will and with a smile and “Yes, I want to do it!” attitude. It is hard to describe this love, because it is so big and diverse. One thing is for sure – if you really fall in love with volunteerism, it’s like a drug because there is no way back. Even if you stop volunteering for some time, it comes back to you again and again through various ways and you understand that spreading the love to other people is more important than the lack of your own time.
Pigs in Maputo Pig cartoons of life in Mozambique
by Iris Yan
I love you
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It’s hard to accept that someone doesn’t love you anymore
for more, every day: pigsinmaputo. blogspot.com/
pigs in maputo.
Image: Caesar van Everdingen’s “Bachus en Ariadne”
Wine festival: Pulp fictiton or pulp reality? 8
Christine Moore
“Dionysus is represented by city religions as the protector of those who do not belong to conventional society and thus symbolizes everything which is chaotic, dangerous and unexpected, everything which escapes human reason and which can only be attributed to the unforeseeable action of the gods.”
I invariably open my eyes the next afternoon, having slept through the morning because I was barely cognizant the night before; but, enough, apparently, to have the foresight to unfurl my blinds to sleep through the torch of morning that was just starting to illuminate the dark complexion of night into blue saturation on the canvas of the horizon. Not being able to lift my head--which feels like a 70 lb cinder block--I roll over on my side and examine the closet door for 20 minutes. The white paint is cracked around the edges, the wooden knobs are loose so that the screw comes out of the hole 5 cm, and the right one isn’t closed all the way because the arm of my sweatshirt is crimped in the crease. I think about the night before and try to piece together the
brainstorming.
Pulp of movie clips that I can remember. The song that makes the soundtrack in my head--of course not the entire song--just the part of the refrain that I can actually understand, “Pogledaj me, Pogledaj me, Ocima Deteta!” *[hold down CTRL then click on the links as you read] (Look at me, Look at me, Like a child) sung in the voice of the cover band artist who was onstage in my first memory of the previous evening.
Director: Stephen Soderbergh (Oceans 11)** Exterior KRUZEN TEK - 22:00 A crowded field which is the center of a
traffic roundabout. There is a stage at one end where a band is playing cover songs of American Rock and “Ex-Yu” Rock (Rock music from bands which were formed in Yugoslavia time. They are mostly in Serbian Language.) 7 booths of wineries encircle the area.
CHRISTINE stands at a table where a display of glasses are neatly placed. She is wearing khaki shorts, a black tank top and strappy khaki wedge sandals (which she purchased for a steal in Lyon at the beginning of summer). Her hair is thrown up in a ponytail and has been air-dried. She is wearing matching silver hoop earrings and a silver cuff bracelet.
SALESWOMAN stands opposite the table from CHRISTINE and is smoking a slim, filtered cigarette. SALESWOMAN (yelling over the music) For 70 Denari ($1.80), you get 5 tastes of wine and you get to keep the commemorative glass with the logo of Kavadarci and “Grozdober 2011” etched on it. CHRISTINE (yelling over the music) I have never claimed to be a wine connoisseur, a wine snob, or even knowledgeable about how a small seed grows into a vine, sprouts grapes, gets plucked, squeezed, smashed, fermented, filtered and poured in my commemorative glass. SALESWOMAN Well who really cares anyway. We’re all just here to have fun.
In fast motion, the SALESWOMAN cleans the glass, takes CHRISTINE’S money and hands her a stack of tickets.
FRIEND 1 is tall, bald and wears a t-shirt
with a button up shirt over it which is unbuttoned. FRIEND 1 Go to that stand, Kris. They have the best wine. Here taste it.
In fast motion, CHRISTINE takes a sip. Smiles and gives a thumbs up to FRIEND 1. She tells FRIEND 1 that she’ll be back. She walks back to meet him in the same place after 5 min. CHRISTINE The ‘tastes’ are more like full glasses and sometimes they don’t take my ticket. Plus, somehow I have more than 5 tickets in my pocket.
In fast motion, FRIEND 2, 3, 4, 5 are standing in a circle facing the stage. FRIEND 2 is holding a bottle of wine and pouring into everyone’s glasses periodically. FRIEND 2 starts to pour wine into CHRISTINE’S glass. CHRISTINE Malse (little) This scene repeats 5 times. The camera pans slowly around with closeups on each persons face. Each is smiling, laughing and drinking. As the camera pans faster and faster the images start to blur and the distinction of the faces is unrecognizable. There are cars driving around the traffic circle. They drive faster and faster around and the music plays louder and louder.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather)*** Interior KAFE BAR - 23:30 CHRISTINE wears a black and white strapless dress with strap-back heels. Her hair is pinned to one side. She is wearing gold earrings and a gold cocktail ring on
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her right middle finger. She enters the bar followed by 4 friends. The full Kafe Bar is hot and steam comes off the speakers which play Latin Salsa music. The women in the bar wear dresses while the men wear slacks and button up shirts with the top 2 buttons undone. The uninterested crowd looks around the room at nothing in particular. The heat causes people to perspire. CHRISTINE is lead by a waiter to a standing table and the FRIENDS follow behind. The WAITER is wearing a t-shirt and carries a tray with a damp towel on it. WAITER Povili? (May I get you something?) CHRISTINE (flatly) Cognac. . .with an orange slice. The rest of the friends order drinks and the WAITER leaves. CHRISTINE looks around the room. Her eyes fix on one GUY across the bar. She has seen him before, but never talked to him. She leans into the FRIEND standing closest to her. CHRISTINE Who is that? FRIEND Who? CHRISTINE The guy in the black shirt over there. The GUY is wearing a black collaredshirt with the sleeves rolled twice at the forearms, jeans, and black leather shoes. He wears a watch on one arm and a silver-link bracelet on the other. The FRIEND looks around and sees the GUY. He points across the cafe bar directly at him. FRIEND Him? The GUY sees FRIEND pointing to him and stops to look at CHRISTINE and FRIEND. He looks surprised. He sees CHRISTINE and smiles. CHRISTINE smiles back.
brainstorming.
Slowly the people in the bar fade out of camera in the black, the lights dim except on the couple, and CHRISTINE and the GUY are left a clear space to walk toward each other. When they meet, they embrace into a salsa dance position. They slowly dance to the song percussion playing through the speakers. Their feet and legs are in sync as if they have practiced many times. When the song is finished, they look into each others eyes and slowly walk backwards to their original positions at opposite ends of the bar. The people in the bar fade back into the camera, the music speeds up, and the lights come back on. The FRIENDS are drinking their drinks and chatting as if nothing happened. CHRISTINE takes the wedge of orange from off the rim of her glass and drinks a sip of her cognac. She looks over the rim of the glass across the room. She sees the GUY who is looking at her longingly as if waiting to approach her to speak. The camera pans out of the coffee bar to see all the people dancing except the GUY and CHRISTINE who are not moving but looking across at each other.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo)**** Interior TAXI - 3:30 a.m. CHRISTINE is sitting in the backseat of a taxi cab. She is wearing a smart, fitted, tweed skirt-suit, pantyhose and pointed toed classic heels. Her hair is pulled tightly in a french twist. Her small pearl earrings match her pearl necklace. She takes off her white wrist-length gloves one finger at a time and places them into her clutch purse. The taxi cab’s exterior is white, the interior is dark grey. The TAXI DRIVER is wearing a white button up shirt with the logo of the taxi company on the chest. He has a friendly face but small eyes and a furrowed brow. TAXI DRIVER
Kaj odish? (Where are you going?)
I remember that I spent all my money.
The TAXI DRIVER turns around as he asks this. He sees CHRISTINE and recognizes her. When he smiles he reveals a row or razor sharp teeth. Before CHRISTINE can answer.
The TAXI DIVER stops the meter at 40, turns around to look CHRISTINE in the eyes. Camera has a close up on his eyes. TAXI DRIVER That’s okay, Lady. (Menacingly) You can owe me the rest. Ha ha ha!
TAXI DRIVER Oh sure. I remember you. Bulevard Makedonija trinaeset, right?
CHRISTINE grasps at the door handle and it is locked. She feels around for the latch but there isn’t one. She starts to pound on the door.
CHRISTINE (Flustered) Uh. How did you know? I mean. I’ve never seen you before in my life. Who are you?
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TAXI DRIVER The door is broken. It only opens from the outside.
TAXI DRIVER Lady, I’ve driven you before lots a times. You gotta remember me.
CHRISTINE (Screams) NOOOO!
CHRISTINE (Panicked) Is this some kind of joke? I.. I.. (Changing her mind) That’s okay, driver, just stop here. I’ll walk the rest of they way.
As I think about this, I am brought back to the current time by my phone ringing in a text message. I click the button to reveal the message, “Kris! Fantastic time last night. Did you make it home okay? We are going for coffee later if you want to join.” I text back, “Super bese (It was super). I think I’ll pass on coffee today. I need some more sleep ;-) “
TAXI DRIVER It’s okay, Lady. Don’t worry. CHRISTINE But I only have 40 Denari. U Picku Mater!
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The meaning of the word
12 Dule Incevski
Love is an emotion of
strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, “God is love” or Agape in the Canonical gospels. Love may also be described as actions towards others (or one self) based on compassion, or as actions towards others based on affection. In English, love refers to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from pleasure (“I loved that meal”) to interpersonal attraction (“I love my partner”). “Love” may refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love of eros, to the emotional closeness of familial love, or the platonic love that defines friendship, to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.
This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states. Love in it’s various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owning to it’s central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts. Love may be understood a part of the survival instinct, a function keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.
No matter how one understands the word LOVE, we were more likely to use it with greatmeaning!!!
lov arma ] ! [ sz m le , láska, kærlighed , liefde, am
love, , 喜 ærlighed , liefde, armastus, rakkaus , amour, die Liebe, π , ur, die Liebe, π , szeretet, ást, saying, amore, 愛, 애정, amore, 愛, 애정, m lestt ba, meil , kjærlighet, j g zami owanie, Factual article.
On Love, Aesthetic Pleasure and Works of Art Mariana Lage Image: Francesco Hayez’s “The Kiss” (parts with interferences)
One day, during a lesson that should speculate
about the spectator experience, I realized that it would be productive and also very curious to approach art through love. I considered the question: how about explore works of art that have as their themes love stories whether or not successful? After that, would I know something more about love? Would I arrive at a more philosophical conceptualization of what is art and what is its role in society? In these idealized classes, I could begin quoting from the oral narratives of the seventh century B.C. to the contemporary art of the XXI century. I might start by remembering the artistic public apotheosis of a heartbreak by Sophie Calle, “Take care of yourself”, where the French artist, after receiving a breakup letter, decides to expose her ex-lover by asking others 130 professionals to make their own interpretation on the fateful letter. As an excuse, Calle asked these professionals to give her a little help in digesting the end of a love story and moving on. To stay in a same role of a wide range of possibilities of infinite other work of art, I could also remember Grégoire Bouillier’s book, “The
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Surprise Guest”, in which the author (responsible of the breakup note with Calle) exposes its stodgy relation with a heartbreak, given by another woman, just before he met the French artist responsible for “Take care of yourself”. By recalling the narrative of Bouillier, on a banquet hosted by Calle, in which he was able to cathartically and slowly digest the story of a misunderstood abandonment. I could also remember “The Banquet” of Plato. In this text, the Greek philosopher proposes to portray a dialogue which occurred during a banquet, where the guests makes a speech in honor of Eros, known as the god of love, divine lover of beauty. Twenty-five centuries apart, these two separate stories about banquets help me to recognize that love is perhaps one of the major themes embedded in art history. I wonder, with curiosity, why being dumped is so painfully hard to swallow that it compiles so many people to create through art? Is it so powerfully incomprehensive to make this that hundreds of people throughout the ages have launched themselves through art in the means of paper, brushes, volumes, sounds, space, objects, narratives? Lost among infinite possibilities, I, who love so many works of art, realize suddenly that there is nothing more appropriate to love than works of art, and vice-versa. Perhaps it is Plato who is convincing me of that – since from the very beginning, he and “The Banquet” appear in my memory when I need to think about love and beauty. Plato, perhaps, wanted to convince us in the fifth century B.C., that the creative act is quite similar to the phenomenon of being in love. I found some convincing statements by a fictional priestess named Diotima arguing that “all men want to procreate after the body and spirit”. Procreation, which makes men immortal, only happens through beauty. Those who wish to procreate through spirit “yearn for creating what the soul is responsible for creating. What is this creation? It is the thought and the other virtues. It is the creation of these men who are called poets and those others to which the inventors call?” (209). Forcefully, I could recognize in other philosophers a conception that celebrates the similarity between the states of creating and being in love. And the first person who comes to mind is the poet Paul Valèry. He was worried about the kind of pleasure we experience when we create and relate with works of art. In artistic creation as well as the experience of love, it occurs in us as a certain suspension of our current posture for practices of life, of our conceptual rationality – time stops, space smokes, we suddenly forget that there exists anything more important than relation with this particular object: art or, with the same intensity, love. As Valery once said, we experience a kind of mutual dependence between our existence and the existence of the object. Everything becomes less urgent, given the necessity to create, to experience the beauty and ecstasy seemingly without purpose, without concepts. ] ! [
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Svetlana Pecanoska
oooo
love... How do we define it? Is love
one thing or a set of many things? Are there different types of love? Is love the same for different types of relationships? According to the dictionary it is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. It is a deep feeling shared in passionate or intimate relationship. In other context, love has a variety of related meanings. There are different types of love, such as Romantic love, Platonic love, Puppy love, love towards country, family love, religious love, friendly love…So love refers to a variety of different feelings, states and attitudes, ranging from pleasure (“I love that meal”), to interpersonal attraction (“I love my boyfriend/ girlfriend”). Even as far back as the ancient Greeks, people have struggled with the nature of love. Poets have written about love perhaps as long as poets have been writing. Psychologists may lack the eloquence of poets but through empirical research, we can study the nature of love systematically. We can observe people in different situations, interview them about their
Factual article.
life experiences and develop questionnaires to investigate people’s attitudes and behaviors. This way, definitions of love are drawn not only from personal opinion but from scientific investigations.
Are there different types of love?
Some researchers suggest that there are many types of love. Others suggest one core feature to love that cuts across different types of relationships. For example, in 1977 using factor analysis of 1500 items related to love, John Lee categorized 6 major types of love: eros (erotic desire for an idealized other), ludus (playful or gamelike love), storge (slowly developing attachment), mania (obsessive and jealous love), agape (altruistic love), and pragma (practical love). In their own 1984 factor analytic study, Robert Sternberg and Susan Gracek identified one overarching factor, which they termed interpersonal communication, sharing and support (later called intimacy). Robert Sternberg proposed the triangular theory of love in a 1986 paper. In this model,
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all love is composed of three elements: intimacy, passion and commitment. Intimacy involves closeness, caring, and emotional support. Passion refers to states of emotional and physiological arousal. This includes sexual arousal and physical attraction as well as other kinds of intense emotional experiences. Commitment involves a decision to commit to loving the other and trying to maintain that love over time. Using different combinations of these three elements, Sternberg described eight different kinds of love: nonlove (low on all 3 elements), liking (high on intimacy only), infatuated love (passion only), empty love (commitment only), romanantic love (intimacy and passion), companionate love (intimacy
and commitment), fatuous love (passion and commitment), and consummate love (all three together). According to psychologist Elaine Hatfield there are 2 basic types of love: compassionate and passionate love. The first one is characterized by mutual respect, attachment, affection and trust. The passionate love is characterized by intense emotion, sexual attraction, anxiety and affection. When these emotions are reciprocated, people feel elated and fulfilled. Unreciprocated love leads to feelings of despondence and despair. This love is transitory, usually lasting between 6 to 30 months.
What are the positive and negative aspects of love? Interest: When you first meet someone you're destined to fall in love
with, you're super interested in his/her life and everything about him/ her. This is actually one of the first signs that you really like the person. When you're not all that interested in someone, there's no way you're likely to fall in love with him or her. Amusement: It's wonderful to love someone and to be able to let go with that person and just laugh and laugh and laugh. Joy: When you're around someone you love, you can't help but feel joyous. When you love someone, that person makes you truly happy and spending time with him or her uplifts you in ways you may not have felt possible. Often, even the worst situation can seem like fun. Hope: When you experience love (even from friends and family), you feel like there is hope for good things. You believe that there is goodness in the world. Secondly, when you fall in love, you share your hopes with that person. You let him or her inside your mind and allow him or her to know what really is important to you. You make plans for the future with this person, placing hope in the fact that your relationship with stand the test of time. Serenity: Love is when you get to that point with another person when, no matter what is happening, you feel a sense of peace when you're with him or her. Your life could be chaos, everything could feel like it's falling apart, but when you're with the one you love, you feel calm. You feel safe. Gratitude: We should all be extremely grateful for the love we have in our lives and we should do whatever we can not to take it for granted.
Factual article.
We should strive to make every single day a loving one, expressing our gratitude not only through words but through actions as well. Pride: Have you ever seen a loved one do something amazing and felt such a swell of pride that it shocked you? It's great to feel proud of yourself, but it's extra exciting when you can feel proud of someone else. It really is the true test of love -- to feel really good that someone else is doing something that's important to him or her. Inspiration: The best kind of love is the kind that makes you want to be the best you. When we’re in love we’re motivated, we’re excited, and we’re most definitely inspired. Inspiration can come from anywhere, but love is one of those amazing things that almost always inspires. Awe: In fact, the word could have been created simply for love, it's that much connected. When you love someone, you're in awe of him or her. And, not only are you in awe of how awesome s/he is, but you're in awe of the relationship you've found. Anyone who's ever had a really great love knows that it's pretty astounding when it does happen. It can feel like the craziest thing to find someone who seems to fit so perfectly with you and, quite honestly, it's nearly impossible not to be in awe of that. Love is awesome and it deserve all the awe it can get. Love’s ugly side is just as powerful as the beautiful side, but a little twisted. When two people enter in a relationship and seemingly really love one another then one deems it necessary to leave the relationship; it leaves a hole in the person they were with, a deep gaping hole that can not be filled by another person, that is if the love in the relationship was real love. Love will make you do stupid things, become jealous, and make you selfish, blind you to all of these things as well. When you enter a relationship it is nice, sweet, and beautiful for I would say...three months if you
are lucky, then after that third month it dawns on you how the fact that other people are looking for someone like your mate makes you paranoid. You start thinking someone will come along and take that someone you found. This is ridiculous in most cases but my point is love can change you sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. However it’s complex thing, but it’s also quite simple: love makes you feel good. It does so many things, but at the most basic level, love makes you feel uplifted, happy and positive which is good for our health. ] ! [
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Romantics make best lovers?
Ramon Martensen
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To Sonja, whose hand lies warmly in mine.
D
o
romantics make best lovers? Are you the luckiest person in the world when you are loved by a romantic? Or is it better to be loved by someone who has a more down to earth mentality? To answer these questions we will first have to explore what we mean when we are talking about a romantic. A romantic is not necessarily the guy who throws around rose buds and lights candles around the bathtub or the guy who sends you Hallmark postcards on Valentine’s Day. Being a romantic is broader than that. It is an attitude towards life; a philosophy. Romantic is someone who seeks a deep emotional connection in every aspect of life. He seeks depth in every experience he has. It is the sort of “all or nothing” mentality that drives him. In that sense romantics make very good lovers and partners. When he is in love with you he will love you with everything he is and has. All his attention and energy will be focussed on you and you alone. He will put all his capacities into creating this deep emotion. To make a bubble in which only the two of you exist. At this point the romantic is the perfect lover. He gives you the feeling that you are the only thing in the world and he does everything to make you
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happy. In this stage nobody is more dedicated than him. But it won’t stay like this. At some point the practical part of life will innate your created bubble. There is a life to live, the world outside needs attention. Jobs have to be worked, friends to be seen and family visited. The great love you are sharing has to find its place in everyday life. These moments don’t fit the romantic. The space to just float on the love, to grab every moment together, to live love and love alone is gone. He
will have to defy his energy between different things and he is starting to notice that you have to do the same. The emotional intensity has to be replaced by a stability that makes it possible to function in everyday life. His doubts will start to rise. Questions like: ‘Is this true love if I cannot feel the intensity in our love anymore? Is something lost for good?’ will start to haunt him. He will get insecure and confused. It’s because the romantic is like a drug addict. He feels like he needs deep emotional experience. That it is something essential. And you will sense it in his behaviour. He will seem more distant. His mind drifts off sometimes. He will make you feel like he is destroying the dream he has created for the two of you. His spontaneous and impulsive way of committing will be replaced by reflection and more cautious steps into developing the relationship. The best thing you can do to win the full attention and commitment of a romantic at that point is to leave him and than his relationship will be filled with deep emotions again; emotions of suffering, deep loneliness and desire. He will use all of his emotional and creative powers to win you back. And even when you take him back, in the beginning of the new found relationship you will be everything for him and he will do anything to create greatness in your love. A status quo is broken and new situation occurs in which there is room for big emotions and deep experiences. But after some time the same mechanism will occur. Eventually you will be stuck with only two choices: either to leave him for good, due to ongoing disappointments or to end up in an ongoing viscous circle. But if you truly love the romantic, not for what he does or say to you but for who he is, and if you feel that he truly loves you, not for what
images: scenes from “The Corpse Bride” animation by Tim Burton
you can represent for him, but for who you are, than you should take him by the hand and stick with him. Show him the beauty and happiness that happens in ‘everyday life’. Be that beauty and happiness to him. Because the romantic who is never given the opportunity or never gives himself the opportunity to step past this nature and doubts that come with it, is doomed to a life of wandering and loneliness. He is never able to commit to anyone or anything for a durable time; never having the chance to build on a deeper connection with the core of somebody or something. And besides that in his core, the romantic needs the same things as every other person: to be loved and cherished. To have a place where he can feel secure and where he can find peace of mind. Where he can share everything he is. If you stick to the romantic and are able and willing to give him these things, you will love somebody who might not be overwhelming or intense, but someone who is eternally thankful and loyal. You’ll get a sensitive person who gives you a deep connection in return. If you love a romantic like that, you will not love emotion but a person with all of his aspects.
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20 text and images Tamara Vasilkova
If anything should go by as a stimulus for endorphin release, is the unifing moment in which you are irrevocably consumed by a piece of soulful sounds imprinted in a melody. This effect was in its fullness executed at the 30th anniversary of the Skopje Jazz Festival. Eighteen completely different, mind-bending experiences within 7 nights. Because of the plenteous amount of detailed experiences, I would like to share the ones that made profound impressions on me. One of the performers of the 12 points festival, which promotes new artists who create innovative music,mainly new jazz, is Mari Kvien Brunvoll from Molde,Norway. Her way of reflecting the music she unfolds, is sketching unto the listeners audiovisual perception,completely interwoven with pure emotion. Pacing on the stage, with the most spontaneous posture with a beer in one hand and an instrument in the other, sat on the ground and started to create every song only from the sounds
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of her voice with the use of loops and pedals. Throughout the entire process you are involved in the genesis of her every song on simultanious specific levels of interpretation. At the end, the feeling was a complete contemplative mind all throughout the audience. The second concert that I would undoubtedly underscore as the most exalting and reflective, was that of the Charles Lloyd New Quartet. At the very begining, Charles Lloyd takes
21 the saxophone with such playful poise and immediately starts this magical cohesion with his band. Each and every composition that was played, just deepened the ubiquitous fluid of solemnity. On every solo of the other members of the quartet, Lloyd was childlishly amused and danced with the rhythm, rotating around them and making a special supportive connection. The repetitive encore requested by the overwhelmed crowd, prolonged the concert for almost an hour. At the end, he sat next to the pianist (Jason Moran), played along and started to cite a part from the Bhagavad Gita, sharing his wisdom as a follower of transcendental meditation. A very sudden and unexpected end came, which was completing the equivocal pattern that was revolving all over this monumental experience. The last concert I would like to put emphasis on is the Trio: Muhal Richard Abrams/ Roscoe Mitchell/ George Lewis, members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicans (AACM), all playing a major part in avant-garde/free jazz. This was one of the concerts that leave you with your head pondering over what you have just heard, a kind of a brain tease if you will. The piano, the saxophone and the trombone with laptop were all three individual “mathematicans” which made the perfect equation worth taking the effort to solve while using “audio translation”. The stable support was worked out by George
Lewis while Richard Abrams and Mitchell tapped along with their own versatility and arithmetics. The complete part had somehow multitudinous scheme which was scarcely effortless to get a grasp of. The end of this anniversary festival was rounded with the most awaited concert of all, the one of Pat Methenys Trio. Because I wasn’t able to attend it, I will share a part the most vivid impressions of Nenad Georgievski, concert/festival reviewer at AllAboutJazz. And so : “ The whole concert was planned in several parts with different moments of Pat Methenys carrier. Of course, if taken into account that he is one prolific author with a great variety of compositions, selecting material is a big challenge for every concert. This concrete concert started out with a duet, side by side with Larry Grenadier, playing “Unrequited” from the album of Metheny with B. Mehldau, 2006. The dynamics with which Metheny continued is one of the most recognizable riffs from his opus “Bright Size Life”. As a band with Larry Grenadier (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums), they only showed perfection – intertwined telephatic communication, a masterful variety of tones, dynamics and skills. The second part of the concert was dedicated for more experimental kind of artistry like “Into The Dream”, being played on his wonder of guitar, Pikasso. Every part of this concert
brought a lot of surprises and sensations and got symbolic, standing ovations. The last encore from the several, Metheny came back with only his accoustic guitar to play the most beautiful versions of „And I Love Her“,„Betcha By Golly, Wow“ from his latest solo album called „What’s It All About.“ “ The complete list of musicians who took part in this festival is the following,hope you enjoy every bit of their music as I did.
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● SETHSTAT (Macedonia) ● VASIL HADZIMANOV TRIO (Serbia/Macedonia) ● 12 POINTS – EUROPE’S NEW JAZZ: - MARI KVIEN BRUNVOLL (Norway) - KAJA DRAKSLER ACROPOLIS QUINTET (Slovenia) - METAL-O-PHONE (France) ● ALESSANDRO PENEZZI & ALEXANDRE RIBEIRO (Brazil) ● WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET (USA) ● TRIO CORRENTE (Brazil) ● MIROSLAV VITOUS QUINTET (Czech Republic/Italy) ● CHARLES LLOYD NEW QUARTET (USA) ● FIRE! (Sweden) ● GRAHAM HAYNES / HARDEDGE (USA) ● NILS PETTER MOLVAER (Norway) ● ILHAN ERSAHIN’S ISTANBUL SESSIONS (Turkey) ● ZU (Italy) ● VIJAY IYER TRIO (USA) ● THE TRIO: MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS / ROSCOE MITCHELL / GEORGE LEWIS (USA) ● THE EX (Netherlands)
o World Press Phot o is the world’s World Press Phot s photography most prestigiou y year works er competition. Ev ion winners by the competit go into a and runners-up uring over to n large exhibitio is date is at 40 countries. Th in Luanda. Instituto Camôes
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what World Press Ph gola where Luanda, An November when 10th to 29th of ess Photo website World Pr
Love of religion as any other love? H
ave you ever thought how would the world look like if there was no strength that will bond and keep us tight together? Have you ever imagined yourself without something or someone you want and long to be together? - The answer is simple. Just make a turn around and you will find something. You may find love. And you’ll find it everywhere. Go and turn your stereo on and there will probably be some love context song in the air. Go to your family or friends and you’ll find out that even if the entire world tears apart, you will never be alone. Go into your office, your school, nature, do your hobby.... But if you feel left alone....do not be afraid. Believers know there is still someone that loves you above all. There is God. Seems like love and religion are so closely related. We are concluding marriages in church, remember? But let’s talk about different kind of love. Do we believe in God and how do
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Aneta Dimoska
we express our commitment? Let’s start from the beginning. We are born and risen in different communities, we are all coming from various ethnical, cultural, religious, social backgrounds. We do not have the opportunity to choose where we are going to belong. We are Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists…we name our God as Jesus Christ or Allah or Moses or Buddha or whatever we want. Sometimes it is difficult to find out who is really religious and who is not. This diversity of names, the division among mine, yours, their God has inflicted irreparable damage on the humanity throughout history. Starting with the War of the Crusades, through the great Inquisition and genocides, even now with todays so-called ‘terrorists’, the struggle among religions doesn’t seem to come to an end. Obviously something is missing here. What is ironic in this situation is the fact that each religion takes love, life and peace for its value bases. So how can we explain numerous children, women
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and men who have lost their lives and all this in the name of God? But in my view God is NOT mean, but people are. I remember a year ago, I was standing in a church yard, when a little dog came to me. It was co cute so I took it in my arms and start playing with it. Then the church minister saw me and said: Throw that dog away from this church because it represents the evil! I did what the man asked, but I was still confused and with unanswered questions in my head. Why? If God created and gave life to every single creature on this planet, why would he hate his own piece of work? Then I realized that being religious does not count by how often I go to church, or I wear veil, yashmak, or respect Star of David, or meditate or whatever… but by the times I find God in myself and act by his rules: Love, Love and Love.
Love yourself, Love your family, and Love the others. If we look deeper and capture the essence of every religion, we will understand that it is good to be Christian, Muslim, Jew or Buddhist. We will find out that it does not make any difference of who we are because what you can read in the Bible is the same what is written in the Koran. So the only thing that doesn’t depend on our will is the place where we are going to be born. So, if I am born here maybe it is for some reason, maybe God saved the best for me on that piece of land, maybe He wanted me to be what I really am, maybe… I am a Christian, I am proud of it …and I love God, I love myself, my family, I love you…and I really do love dogs. What about you? : ) ] ! [
event! San Miguel de Allende Jazz & Blu Internatio es Festiva nal l Sway to cool jazz and mel ancholic blues in th e colonial plazas, the parks and the Angel a Peralta Theatre a t the San Miguel de Allende In ternationa l Jazz & Blues Festi val every year. The open-air per formances are free.
what San Migu where
el de Allen de Internationa l Jazz & Blu es Festival
San Miguel Mexico
when website
16th to 20th San Miguel ternationa Festival
de Allende, of Novembe
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de Allende
In-
l Jazz & Blu
es
Hip hop, representation and authenticity in South Africa Dumisa Sofika image: part of the “Heal the Hood”’s logo
Hip hop’s emergence in South Africa was in the late 1980s, in the midst of a decade’s long political history of oppression. The emergence of hip hop across many countries, including Brazil, South Africa and the United States shares an almost similar genealogy: structural or racial oppression, the forced removal or movement of people into the townships (in South Africa), favellas (Brazil) or the projects (U.S). In South Africa, hip hop was adopted as a tool of expression of our own unique situations, although it shared many of the historical characteristics of American hip hop. Most rap in South Africa has been progressive (with strong elements of Black Consciousness) and activist minded. Groups such as Godessa, Prophets of da City (considered the pioneers of hip hop in South Africa), Cashless Society, Black Noise, Optical Illusion, and individual artists like Rattex and The Hymphatic Thabs have all engaged in critical and wonderfully creative social commentary. Their rap style (I like to call it delivery) is very unique and diverse. No two artists ever sound the same. Most of these artists continue to work in their communities through NGOs doing developmental work using hip hop. These include projects such as Heal The Hood, started by Black Noize member Emile XY in 1998 in Cape Town. They host a
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25 number of events during the year which focus on the elements of hip hop and promote using the culture for positive social change. Their aim is to take charge of the community and uplift youth from drugs, gangsters and poverty which are often rife in South African communities. However, these groups in contemporary South Africa are coming more and more to be ignored, defined as ‘Old School’ and considered by many young people to be out of fashion (meaning unpopular) even though we are still facing many of the same old problems that we were facing when rap first came out. The newer rap is represented by people such as El-Tido, Flabba and Slikour of Skwatta Kamp, J.R and more recently Teargas. It depicts fun and partying, being carefree, excessive wealth and other generally middle-class and upper class values. In their latest video, ‘Party 101’, Teargas, a group who rap in vernac (an isiZulu) are shown partying on a luxury speedboat, worry-free, surrounded by lots of women and wine and champagne (see video link). These are brothers making things happen for themselves in a democratic South Africa. It is all about hustling, making it all possible for oneself and about how much swag (style) you have. For example, the latest issue of HYPE magazine’s (a South African hip hop magazine) cover story featured El-Tido, titled “El-Tido: The fierce hustler out to get it
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ALL� and he is described by a subscriber to the magazine as having the best ‘swag’. These are truly inspirational and motivating qualities to have for the many young people who are their followers, and artists who aspire to make it in the music industry. However, rap is losing the elements of authenticity, keeping it real and that of social critique that defined the earlier genres. There is one idea of what success sounds like. The most successful artists and those aspiring for success style themselves, in lyrical content and in style, after U.S artists who also focus on money, swag and braggadocio. Therefore rappers all tend to sound alike because they are all emulating what sells. None of them explore alternative styles of delivery and content like with earlier artists, or artists in the underground who tend to be more original. This means that artists are not keeping it real. Most of the things that are reflected in their lyrics or music videos are not things that we would recognise as things that happen in the neighbourhoods of a majority of South Africans, and often they go against some of the values that we hold as South Africans. So for example, it goes against the value of Ubuntu, a value which is outward focused, that respects and values all people because we share the same human spirit by its disrespect and objectification of women.
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Most of what we see is egocentric and narcissistic. In fact most of the video and lyrical content is based not on metaphor, but on personal fantasy, fantasies of money, having many women and power. The worst thing about this rap is that it lacks social criticism. Of course things such as having swag, money and popularity are good things. But we have to look at what they translate to in effect. Swag means style. Style often translates into the most negative practices, multiple sexual partners as an indicator of how much power and style one has, arrogance. It means being wealthy and flashy and represents celebration of alcohol, crime and misogyny. Where alcohol or other drugs are involved risky heterosexual behaviour may become very likely to happen. South Africa is a setting where the objectification of women is hugely problematic and rape is one of the leading crimes in the country. Nowhere do we see these things being presented as problematic, instead they are paraded as cool; markers of success. Women hardly have a voice in rap except in the underground, which receives very little airplay, despite the often much criticized political and socially progressive content. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du4qY4cDC uM&feature=related ] ! [
Antalya Piano Festival
as pianists local Hosting well as famous international musicians, the Antalya Piano Festival brings three weeks of fine classical music to the Antalya Cultural Centre. Under the direction of Fazil Say, every edition pays tribute to a different great composer.
what where
Antalya Piano Festival Antalya, Turkey 25th of November to
when website
17th of December Biletix
image: “Manaki Brothers” poster
Ieva Baranova
On 15th-2st of October the Macedonian city
Bitola hosted the annual International Manaki Brothers Film Festival. The program was vast and very special – it offered films from all over the world that were competing in feature film and short film disciplines. I had a chance to be a volunteer in this festival and to see a great deal of its program. For me it started with the blue sunrise in Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia. It continued with strong emotional experience from the Balkan region movies As if I am not there (Kako da me nema) and White white world (Bel bel svet). The festival was also about smiling and laughing, like during the charming documentary Matchmaking Mayor. And finally it was an excitement caused by a range of emotions that one can get from watching many short films in a row. Besides the pleasure of enjoying great cinema art, the festival taught me a lot about the “invisible” part of each film. During lectures and discussions with outstanding filmmakers and artists I realized how many small details stand behind a movie, starting from lighting, special effects and editing, including financial aspects and the long path of each film to its audience in the cinemas or in front of TV screens. One of the most interesting talks was with the French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel who had worked for such films as “Amelie”, “Across
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the Universe”, “Faust” and the last part of “Harry Potter”. Another interesting presentation was made by the Macedonian Visual Effects Studio “FX3X” famous for creating special effects for many well-known Hollywood movies. For me the experience in this festival is inseparable from my first impressions of Bitola. This lovely (though very cold) city of Macedonia still carries the pride from its former glory as an Ottoman period “city of consuls”. I must agree with the “Lonely Planet” guide that Bitola has “some of Macedonia’s most beautiful buildings and most beautiful people”. Brothers Milton and Ianachia Manaki – the first Balkan filmmakers who worked in Bitola – are just another reason for this city to be proud of its heritage. Within 6 days I saw 7 feature films, 3 documentaries, 19 short films, 6 press conferences and 4 lectures/ discussions with famous cinematographers and other experts. So, no wonder that during the last days of the festival I felt like I had overdosed the cinema. The symptoms of this condition are sleepiness, troubles with coordination and an aching bottom. Also I realized that information and even emotions from all the films start mixing together in my mind. However, the festival also cured me of something – of a wish to watch standard Hollywood movies. Why should we prefer those if there seems to be so much great quality cinema out there? And I am thankful to the festival for opening my eyes to it. ] ! [
Jelena Gavrilov
image: part of photo by Trevor Haldenby
28 This story about love I will devote to someone who says that he is a stranger in the song. His name is Leonard Cohen. Leonard Cohen was born on 21st September 1934. He is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Leonard Cohen has released 11 studio albums and 6 live albums during the course of a recording career lasting over 40 years. For four decades, Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time. In his songs there is a threatening, devouring the world. He sings about the world where people live in despair delay their fate. The dominant motive in Cohen’s songs is love, but also his understanding of the world. All his songs contain an implicit criticism of society, but just two of them “The Old Revolution” and “Stories of the street” talking about problems are open-faced. Leonard Cohen openly shows emotions trough his songs. He wants to escape from this cruel world, but that escape has to be right here and right now. If it is not possible, he is ready to share the fate of the others and accept his life in this corrupt society. Cohen, with his specific and calm voice, sings about dark world, lit only by occasional loves, happiness and mystical Suzanne. People didn’t accidentally called Cohen “dark romantic”. He is the one who accepts evil and impurity of this world, and searches for revelation through immersion in all. In his love songs he deals with values, rather than “I want you”, “I love you”, “I need you”. Leonard Cohen eludes many popular modern songwriters and singers. All lovers of Cohen’s songs have to learn how to say goodbye, not because the separation itself is good, but because they love to prevent people realize their essential masculinity or femininity. The change is necessary condition for self-fulfillment in Leonard’s uncertain world, but relations prevent changes. It is shown in the song “That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”
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“The stories of the street are mine The Spanish voices laugh The cadillacs go creeping down Through the night and the poison gas I lean from my window sill In this old hotel I chose. Yes, one hand on my suicide And one hand on the rose.”
“I’m not looking for another As I wander in my time, Walk me to the corner Our steps will always rhyme, You know my love goes with you As your love stays with me, It’s just the way it changes Like the shoreline and the sea.”
Cohen shows love as a cure against the social demands for control, discipline and enslavement of the environment. His unpublished song, “Love Tries To Call You By Your Name” is one of the songs which best shows his thinking about love. The main thesis in this song is that if we commit to materialism and achromatism in society, we also commit our identity to it, and only love can calls us our names. One of the most popular Cohen’s love song is “Dance me to the end of love” which is translated into many languages. Part of the reason why Cohen’s early work revealed such a high degree of achievement is that he was an accomplished literary figure before he ever began to record. His collections of poetry, including Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956) and Flowers for Hitler (1964), and his novels, including The Favourite Game (1963), Beautiful Losers (1966), had already brought him considerable recognition. His dual careers in music and literature have continued feeding each other over the decades.
“Children show scars like medals. Lovers use them as secrets to reveal. A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh.” –Leonard Cohen, The Favorite Game
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“You thought that it could never happen to all the people that you became, your body lost in legend, the beast so very tame. But here, right here, between the birthmark and the stain, between the ocean and your open vein, between the snowman and the rain, once again, once again, love calls you by your name.”
“Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic ‘til I’m gathered safely in Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon Show me slowly what I only know the limits of Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love.”
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Bamboo Music Festival Bamboo isn’t just a panda thing. Sabah’s Bamboo Music Festival shows you how to get the most out of these hollow sticks. Hear bamboo orchestras performing on traditional instruments such as the sompoton, seruling (flute) and the tagunggak (percussion).
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what Bamboo Music Festival where Sabah, Malaysia when 30th of November website Bamboo Music Festival
image: Casanova by Anton Raphael Mengs
An Imaginary Interview with Giacomo Casanova
Marija Gavrilov
If I could choose one person to talk to about love, I 30
would need a time machine to drop me back in the 18th century Paris. I’m attending a presentation on aeronautics and the future of balloon transport, for I have heard the greatest adventurist and womanizer of today will be there. Monsieur Girard wakes me up, remarking that I should put some more powder on my 18-centurystyled hairdo. The carriage is bouncing, people in the street are screaming and swearing, while my tired eyes fill with tears as I take a look through the small open window and a cloud of dust covers my face. I quickly clean the dirt of my neatly made up face, take one more look in the mirror and take a deep breath feeling the bad smell which fills the narrow street of Paris we are driving through. I’m on my way to meet the legendary Giacomo Casanova, who is 58 now, has travelled the length and breadth of Europe, losing and winning in gambling, twisting and turning every attractive female he’d meet, cheating and being cheated by the rich and the poor. Even though Paris is still far away from being called the ‘city of light’, the year 1783 is a watershed for ballooning and aviation in France, and the presentation we’ll be attending is the proof for it, since it has attracted the attention of well known people such as Benjamin Franklin and Giacomo Casanova. If Casanova could fly freely like a bird, where would the passion for liberty and flying take him, I asked. Giacomo, weary-looking, with sunken cheeks and smallpox scars answers with thoughtful look: ‘Man is free... Yet, we must not suppose he is at liberty to do everything he pleases, for he becomes a slave the moment he allows his actions to be ruled by passion’. The ease he’s speaking with, answering as a philosopher, living as a rich tramp, leaving his traces wherever he goes.
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M: ‘I would like to talk to you about love’. He sighed. C: ‘When Henrietta left me, I asked myself what love was. Love is three quarters curiosity’. M: ‘Is that all a great lover has to say about love?’ C: ‘Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for it lies in mere fantasy.’ M: ‘Except for Henrietta, have you ever felt love for any other woman you were with?’ C: ‘Ah, Henrietta... People who believe that a woman is not enough to make a man equally happy all the twentyfour hours of a day have never known an Henrietta’, he said as if daydreaming, and then continued, ‘I have always loved truth so passionately that I have often resorted to lying as a way of introducing it into the minds which were ignorant of its charms.’ M: ‘You are considered a hedonist who gave up ‘true’ love for physical satisfaction.’ C: ‘The blame lies entirely with the female sex for bewitching my mind and enslaving my heart. Oh, seducing sex! Source of pain!’ M: ‘Do you regret your decisions?’ C: ‘By recollecting the pleasures I have had formerly, I renew them, I enjoy them a second time, while I laugh at the remembrance of troubles now past, and which I no longer feel. My success and my misfortunes, the bright and the dark days I have gone through, everything has proved to me that in this world, either physical or moral, good comes out of evil just as well as evil comes out of good.’ In the end, I thank to the great lover for being so kind to talk to us, and as he would put it, for ‘pointing to thinking that men go to various roads and teaching us the great art of treading on the brink of the precipice without falling in it.’
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credits Contributors for this issue: Alexandre Fonseca aneta dimoska anita kalmane Christine Moore Dumisa sofika dule icevski Ieva Baranova Iris Yan Jelena Gavrilov Mariana Lage Marija Gavrilov Marjan Angelovski Nevena Smilevska All texts published in Libertas Petra Huijgen represent solely the opinions Priscila Sasaki of their authors, not of the Ramon Martensen magazine or of its publishers. svetlana pecanoska Libertas and creACTive are not tamara vasilkova responsible in any way for the Tiberiu Iacomi contents of the articles, or for Vladimira Bravkova the photos published with them.
Libertas Team: Daniel Nunes Vladimíra Brávková Dragan Atanasov Kristijan Nikodinovski Scott Pinkster Christine Moore Ivana Galapceva Carolina Santana Evgenia Kostyanaya Marija Gavrilov Marina Danic Rjasnoj
Have you signed up? Send an empty message to hello@ magazinelibertas.com and receive your personal copy of Libertas by e-mail every 5th in the month! Have something to say? Contact us at hello@magazinelibertas.com and read your article in the next edition! about us: Youth Magazine Libertas was founded in September 2009 as a project of Youth Association creACTive. Youth Magazine Libertas aims to be a place where young people from all over the world can share their thoughts and views on topics that matter for them, in this way starting discussions and working as a means of change for the future. Every month, Libertas is published on the 5th, featuring articles about a different main topic and other kinds of articles such as movie, book and music reviews, travel destination, interview and brainstorm.
designed by Carolina Santana
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Youth Association Creactive