June 28, 2007

PALOMA


Is this a paloma, dove of peace, colombe? I’m not a bird expert, but I know that there are quite a few among the bloggers, so we will hopefully know. At least to me it looks like one! I saw it yesterday among some pigeons in “my” park.

Let’s here “forget” about this bird as a symbol for peace, its significance in religion etc., known by everybody.

La Paloma is also a song, which is supposed to have the world record of number of recordings, several thousands. You would possibly believe it’s a folk song, but it was composed around 1860 by a Spanish composer (Iradier or Yradier). By the way, George Bizet thought that another song by the same composer was also a folk song and used it as basis for his “Habanera” in Carmen.

Many artists have pictured “palomas”, but here I will just mention Picasso, who liked to represent “palomas” as an artist and was also the father of a Paloma.

My granddaughter is called Paloma. I believe I have already said this somewhere, but one reason for this name was that the whole big family saw the Almodovar film “Hable con ella” (“Talk to her”) a couple of weeks before Paloma’s birth and were extremely touched by the film and by Caetano Veloso’s performance of “Cucurrucu Paloma”.

32 comments:

Shionge said...

Paloma is a wonderful name and hey my Aussie's girlfriend daughter is known as Paloma too :D

She is gorgeous Peter....how old is she and do you get to see her very often? Hugs to her ya!

Cuckoo said...

Your grand daughter Paloma is beautiful... as beautiful as her name. I said it earlier also. How often do you meet her. Tell her she is admired by many more now. Specially by a bird herself 'Cuckoo'. ;)

Yeah, that's a dove. I never knew Paloma is a bird's name.

May I ask, what's 'Cucurrucu' ?

Dina said...

Your grandaughter is beautiful. How old six /seven? Do you live close to her and you get to see her often?

Peter said...

I see that there are already som questions:

Paloma is 4 and a 1/2.
I can see her quite often; she also lives in Paris, together with her parents and her little brother.

cuckoo:
"cucurrucu" is the sound of the dove, I suppose in Spanish.

I now added the link to the music (from the film), if someone doesn't know it or would like to re-listen!

Olivier said...

tu continues dans l'art, belle collection de paloma. En plus c'est un superbe prenom (bien que la chanson doit au bout d'un moment l'embettée non ;o)) )

lyliane six said...

La plus belle des colombes est ta photo de Paloma. Lundi,au cinéma d'Evreux, ils ont présenté en avant première le film "délice Paloma", en présence du réalisateur, je ne suis pas allé le voir, mais ma bande de copines oui, je vais leur demander leur impression. Et j'ai bien pensé à toi en voyant ce titre.

Peter said...

olivier:
Non, je ne me lasse pas d'écouter Caetano, et surtout pas ce morceau!:-)

Peter said...

lyliane:
J'ai bien l'intention de voir ce film. Il ne sort que le 11 juillet.

Kate said...

Peter, Such a coincidence of mind. Serendipidity I guess! As I was waiting for your photos to load, I thought about you and your love for your grand-daughter, Paloma, and presto---here is the bird, the commentary, and the photo of your small treasure. My Olivia is spending the night with us so that she and her nana (me) can have a play day together. I shall have to show her this post!!

hpy said...

Tu as de la suite dans les idées, comme d'habitude. Et comme on te l'as déjà dit, tu es très bien documenté. A part ce que tu sais quand tu as l'idée de ton post, sans vérification, cela doit quand même représenter pas mal de travail, non?
Et non, on ne se lasse pas de Cucurrucu Paloma! On ne l'entends même pas assez à la radio.

Anonymous said...

Peter she is beautiful - I have to say I had a shock when I saw her because she looks very much like the little Madeleine who was kidnapped a month ago and my heart ached.

Me too - I just LOVED the song Cucurrucucu Paloma in 'Habla con ella' !!!

Anonymous said...

Also good news - I have found the answer regarding Napoleon in Sydney... or in fact I did nothing, but my blogger friend Sally asked the ABC morning programme to look into it and... they found the answer!
Here it is :

Hi Sally,

Thanks for getting in touch about the statue on the horse. I've looked into it and discovered that its the logo for the Hermes company which has its HQ in that building. It's not Napoleon but it's an un-named rider. Apparently the soldier depicted on the horse had the role of lighting cannons. The things you discover! The company began in the 1820's in Paris making saddles, which is why they have a guy on a horse as their logo. We're not going to do this as a story because its a bit too commercial and it'd just end up being a big ad for the company. Anyway, thought you'd be interested. Let us know if you find any other weird and wonderful things around Sydney!

Cheers,

Phil.

Philip Ashley-Brown
Field Reporter
702 ABC Sydney
02 8333 1235
0417 416 546
------------

These guys obviously have good investigation skills!

Cergie said...

Mais Peter ce somewhere n'est pas anywhere, c'est chez moi, sur Cergipontin !
J'avais mis une photo de palombe qui est une moitié d'un couple qui fréquente mon demi-tonneau à poissons
J'avais aussi parlé de cette merveilleuse chanson qui parait-il est considérée comme ringarde en Espagne
En tout cas elle a été transcendé dans ce film de Pedro Almodovar, cette chanson dans ce contexte, le soir près d'une piscine, la merveilleuse voix de Caetano Veloso
Au début, quand les relations sont en suspend entre les deux protagonistes.
Quand tout est possible.
J'ai bien sûr la BO à la maison, je ne l'écoute pas trop souvent pour pas qu'elle ne devienne ensuite ringarde pour moi...
(Je ne pense pas tout de même qu'elle le devienne un jour.)

En tout cas, je laisse à plus compétent que moi la tâche de déterminer l'espèce de ce bel oiseau, le balanc lui va si bien

Encore un très beau sujet remarquablement traité aujourd'hui, Peter.

(Je me demande si Cocteau n'a pas dessiné de colombe ?
La fille de Picasso s'appelle aussi Paloma)

Peter said...

nathalie:
Thanks for the news about the false Napoleon. Actually yesterday, I discovered a similar statue on the top of the Hermes building here. I could make a small post about it!

cergie:
Oui, Cocteau, Magritte... entre les modernes at beaucoup par les anciens!

J'ai bien mis dans mon texte "... and was also the father of a Paloma." C'est pour ça - aussi - que j'ai choisi Picasso dans mon post.

J'ai mis un lien dans mon texte qui montre l'extrait du film, mais pour bien écouter il faut bien sur le CD!

SusuPetal said...

She is adorable, beautiful and the name suits her perfectly. You must be a proud grandfather!

EMNM said...

Peter, Cuckoo, yes, "cucurrucu" is the sound of the dove in spanish.

Anonymous said...

A very touching post. Your granddaughter is a beauty. The dove is nothing like our doves in America. I think it must have escaped from a cage. Good to see Pablo's picture too.

Abraham Lincoln
Have you ever seen a Great Blue Heron?
Brookville Daily Photo

alice said...

Quelle belle enfant!

Peter said...

Now when Abraham has not objected, I guess we must admit that this is a real paloma!!

Ash said...

She's beautiful!!

Thank you so much for your comments on my photos. Much appreciated. Do keep them coming!
Cheers,
Colorful Ash!

Kalyan Panja said...

Your grand daughter is beautiful...lovely post!

Cuckoo said...

Oh got it !!

Kuckrukoo is the sound of the cock here in India in the wee hours to wake us up. :)

Mona said...

PETER!! This is such a wonderful post! I just love the pictures. The dove is so beautiful!
Thanks for sharing the picasso pictures with us! I just cannot look enough. I love them so much!

& the sweetest ever Paloma...your granddaughter is the most beautiful angel I have ever seen! Thanks for the wonderfully beautiful pictures. They are such a traet to the eyes!!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Peter, your granddaughter is just beautiful! Love the name Paloma, too.

Love Caetano Veloso. I will send to you by e-mail some You Tube songs by Caetano.

PS: Here a tip to hear You Tube without delay: let's play for the first time and then click again on play and the video will play OK. Because the music will be in the PC cache.

sonia a. mascaro said...

I forgot to thank you for your nice comments on my blogs! Cheers!

Peter said...

sonia:
Thanks! I wondered how to get the music in automatically. I will try! ... and if it does not work, I will ask my readers to click on the song title.

Kunterbunt said...

That little girl is a real beauty. Her big eyes are sectacular. A wonderful child's portrait.

Ming the Merciless said...

Your grand daughter is a gorgeous little girl.

I didn't know the white peace dove is called Paloma. Thanks for the information.

black feline said...

i dont know..maybe somebody already commented..isn't there a song called paloma something?

Yoli said...

My daughter's name is also Paloma.

Anonymous said...

I think Caetano Veloso's sister Maria Bethania is the real magnum opus in that family. Her singing is incredible! My favorite song from her albums is Abelha Rainha a.k.a. Mel. Peter: Su nieta Paloma es hermosa y sus ojos !ni que decir! Felicitaciones. Maria O. Russell

Anai Le said...

Cucu-rrucucú --> paloma

Coco-rocó --> gallina (hen)

Kiki-rikí --> gallo (cock)

:)