for the love of the little sparrow

some evidence of my very eclectic cd collection

and the dvd of piaf's lifestory.

i fell in love with edith piaf when my father told me eons ago (i was in high school then) that the two most famous french women he knew (from reading and telvision) were bridgette bardot and edith piaf. as i was not impressed with bridgette bardot's pre-animal activist personality (a sex kitten/pin-up), i was partial to the latter,as edith piaf's "non, je ne regrette rein" song was a tune my father was humming when it was popularized by certain tv commercial. (*note: i eventually was persuaded to buy bardot's cds in the end as i was on "french-mode" buying frenzy in the summer of 2006. her cd's were as expected, it was full of suggestive purring and moans connoting sexual innuendos.*)

fast forward years later, being the papa's girl that i am, i was fortunate enough to visit france's cities. although the mainland paris boasts of the edith piaf museum (musee de edith piaf), i only chanced of hearing of her songs when i was travelling the train link between chalindre and mullehouse to the inner towns of my curiosity piqued once again for her songs, and was able to buy a full two cd album of ms.piaf.

everytime i was in france, i just imagined how it was during her time and felt affinity to the artist that she was, an untrained singer who was driven by ambition and passion for her craft.

fast forward to december 2008, adrian and i ended up watching the La Vie En Rose dvd (which was successful awards-wise but never got the commercial success that it expected).

it was a dvd that made me curse my bad bladder control as i did not want to pause each scene fearing id lose the magic and drama of each scene.

i idolize Ms. Piaf, all the more. she was an alcoholic, and died of liver problems, yet with a tragic life (since a young girl) that she led, she was heroic to triumph in a field she was born to shine in. her childhood, her adulthood (marriage and love) were ridden with tragedy it was unbelieveable that i was watching a true story.

it was not a surprise that marion cotillard won an oscars for best female actor for the movie. having just watched her movie with russell crowe from the movie "a good year" where she was utterly stunning (and i bet she is outside her movie roles as well), i forgot how beautiful she was, as in la vie en rose,she was unrecognizable under thick ageing make-up and frumpy clothing.

reality is stranger than fiction is certainly holding truth in the movie. i was moved by it. i have been listening to edith piaf's cds everyday since.

im sure that it will take a long time for dust to settle once again on the cd covers.