30 julho 2003

Drive

Who's gonna tell you when
It's too late
Who's gonna tell you things
Aren't so great
You can't go on
Thinking nothing's wrong
Who's gonna drive you home tonight

Who's gonna pick you up
When you fall
Who's gonna hang it up
When you call
Who's gonna pay attention
To your dreams
Who's gonna plug their ears
When you scream

You can't go on
Thinking nothing's wrong
Who's gonna drive you home tonight

Who's gonna hold you down
When you shake
Who's gonna come around
When you break

You can't go on
Thinking nothing's wrong
Who's gonna drive you home tonight

----------------------------------
From The Cars Heartbeat City album
Songs written by Ric Ocasek

27 julho 2003

It's been ages since I last went to the Edinburgh Summer Festival,
though they keep mailing me the calendar of events every year...
Not my fav among all Spanish painters but still very good,
NYTimes has an article on The Secret of the Black Paintings

The image has been way overquoted, overlinked and overshown but it seems to me that we Spaniards have
a somewhat Cassandra complex in these war-things, we seem to be primers in suffering among manking
first but nobody is paying attention nor listening. And of course nobody learns from it. So it goes...
"No pasarán"... But sadly enough they did pass through...

Being castaway from your email account: blessing or curse?
Let's see

25 julho 2003

Let's go Spanish :-D with novelist Cees Nooteboom, whadayaknow, and




What is more, he's been awarded the IV International Prize Compostela-Xunta de Galicia

More books about Spain (so they say, and what about the website moniker? Delirious)


There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

24 julho 2003

Everybody's All American:
Encyclopedia of ADvertising

23 julho 2003

It seems my historical past is catching up on me...

The Spanish Inquisition
You are the Spanish Inquisition sketch! Nobody
expects you!


Which Monty Python's Flying Circus Sketch are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

22 julho 2003

Povo que Lavas no Rio

Povo que lavas no rio
Que vais às feiras e à tenda
Que talhas com teu machado
As tábuas do meu caixão,
Há-de haver quem te defenda,
Quem turve o teu ar sadio,
Quem compre o teu chão sagrado,
Mas a tua vida não!

Meu cravo branco na orelha!
Minha camélia vermelha!
Meu verde majericão!
Ó natureza vadia!
Vejo uma fotografia...
Mas a tua vida, não!

Fui ter à mesa redonda,
Beber em malga que esconda
Um beijo, de mão em mão...
Água pura, fruto agreste,
Fora o vinho que me deste,
Mas a tua vida não!

Procissões de praia e monte,
Areais, píncaros, passos
Atrás dos quais os meus vão!
Que é dos cântaros da fonte?
Guardo o jeito desses braços...
Mas a tua vida, não!

Aromas de urze e de lama!
Dormi com eles na cama...
Tive a mesma condição.
Bruxas e lobas, estrelas!
Tive o dom de conhecê-las...
Mas a tua vida, não!

Subi às frias montanhas,
Pelas veredas estranhas
Onde os meus olhos estão.
Rasguei certo corpo ao meio...
Vi certa curva em teu seios...
Mas a tua vida, não!

Só tu! Só tu és verdade!
Quando o remorso me invade
E me leva à confissão...
Povo! Povo! eu te pertenço.
Deste-me alturas de incenso.
Mas a tua vida, não!

Povo que lavas no rio,
Que vais às feiras e à tenda,
Que talhas com teu machado,
As tábuas do meu caixão,
Pode haver quem te defenda,
Quem turve o teu ar sadio,
Quem compre o teu chão sagrado,
Mas a tua vida, não!


Pedro da Cunha Pimentel Homem de Mello (1904 1984)


21 julho 2003

And now for something completely different:
A man with three buttocks!
No, er...
HASH(0x8775b44)
You are the Dead Parrot Sketch. Very funny, a bit
dark and definitely a classic.


Which Monty Python's Flying Circus Sketch are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

17 julho 2003

"To be, or not to be,--that is the question:--
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"



-- From Hamlet (III, i, 56-61)

Bloom on Shakespeare yet again, and let's not even mention Harry Potter!
(Let me get back to that asap :-)

16 julho 2003



The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition, a unique visitor experience based on the famous films, opens at the Science Museum on 16 September 2003.

15 julho 2003

Let's talk about Sex
or rather, read and write about it
- hopefully something to write home about :-9
The Literary Freud
(reg. required)

Matrix Reloaded on DVD.
Vertigo
If you're going to San Franciscooooooo,
be sure to wear some films in your head :-D

Nowadays the translation of this filme title is my favorite word in Portuguese:
Vertigem

14 julho 2003

Hunter
With One Light On In One Room
I Know You're Up When I Get Home
With One Small Step Upon The Stair
I Know Your Look When I Get There

If You Were A King Up There On Your Throne
Would You Be Wise Enough To Let Me Go
For This Queen You Think You Own
Wants To Be A Hunter Again
Wants To See The World Alone Again
To Take A Chance On Life Again
So Let Me Go

The Unread Book And Painful Look
The Tv's On The Sound Is Down
One Long Pause
Then You Begin
Oh Look What The Cat's Brought In
If You Were A King Up There On Your Throne
Would You Be Wise Enough To Let Me Go
For This Queen You Think You Own
Wants To Be A Hunter Again
Wants To See The World Alone Again
To Take A Chance On Life Again
So Let Me Go
Let Me Leave

For The Crown You've Placed Upon My Head Feels Too Heavy Now
And I Don't Know What To Say To You But I'll Smile Anyhow
And All The Time I'm Thinking Thinking

I Want To Be A Hunter Again
Want To See The World Alone Again
To Take A Chance On Life Again
So Let Me Go

13 julho 2003

This made lme augh put loud on a sunday afternoon
(damn you Internet and your magical pages)
It comes from Book-a-minute


Gravity's Rainbow
By Thomas Pynchon
Ultra-Condensed by Glenn Davis


Thomas Pynchon

A screaming thing comes across the sky. It's a V-2 rocket carrying twelve thousand pounds of symbolism, and it's coming down on your poor, deluded, postmodern head.

12 julho 2003

Two days, no shaving and I look exactly the same...
Who am I kidding...
It's three days...





11 julho 2003

Another one (oh dear...) The Sea of Ice by Caspar David Friedrich
Just because I like this painting (which admittedly doesn't say much about my mental health, or does it?) :-)
The Nightmare by Henry Fuselli
New book: The Wisdom of the World: The Human Experience Of the Universe In Western Thought

What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors, into the valley of steel
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is no bad dream

Pink Floyd - Animals - Sheep



10 julho 2003

Those were the days when I studied Literature and Film and we had a paper on any chosen movie having premiered that year. I chose a movie and dedicated this stanza to a character masterfully played by a very young Kirsten Dunst:

Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life - in - Death was she,
Who thicks man`s blood with cold
.

08 julho 2003

Some links are there just to be clicked on

404 - Page not found
There's home somewhere...





Lisboa

MANUEL VICENT

Frente a la cafetería A Brasileira, en el Chiado de Lisboa, está la escultura de Pessoa sentado en la terraza
como un cliente más entre la gente. A su lado en otra mesa hay ahora una bella mujer de mediana edad
cuya mirada perdida denota una profunda desolación. Parece extranjera, tal vez inglesa y permanece tan
inmóvil como el bronce del poeta. La observo desde un extremo de la terraza mientras escribo ante un campari
bajo el sol de otoño. ¿A qué será debida la angustia que expresan sus ojos? Pienso en un verso de Pessoa:
'y lo que soy es un sueño que está triste'.

Lisboa huele a confitería, a tienda de algodones, al agua blanda del Tajo. Su humedad dorada se eleva hasta
los vericuetos de la Alfama donde las pequeñas droguerías, librerías de lance y puestos de salazones la condensan
en otros variados aromas que son también vías del conocimiento. Al atravesar una trama sensitiva de sésamo y
café torrefacto puede que, de pronto, se te revele una placa de la memoria y entonces te descubres en ese niño
que está jugando en una plazoleta. Tal vez el perfume que libera una tabaquería, un taller de motocicletas o una
carbonería te lleva a un amor que habías olvidado en un lugar igualmente perdido. Entre todos los olores de una
ciudad hay uno que te pertenece sólo a ti, puesto que ha construido tu alma y aunque siempre es muy dulce,
a veces también es mortal.

Imagino que esta mujer inmóvil ha llegado sola a Lisboa. Si es una enamorada de Pessoa habrá visitado el café
Martinho d'Arcada donde el poeta bebía el alcohol más rudo hasta extenuarse para dejar de ser el anónimo escribiente
de un despacho comercial y soñarse un príncipe azul que viajaba de noche por la carretera de Sintra al volante de un
Chevrolet y recibía al pasar el beso soplado de una niña que también lo soñaba.

Puede que esta mujer solitaria haya paseado sin destino por las calles de Lisboa esta mañana y entre tantos aromas
de especias, de repente, ha percibido el olor de un cuerpo desnudo y sudado, amorosamente cabrío, que emergía
del fondo de la pensión donde vivió hace tiempo un gran amor con abundantes lágrimas.

Como quien ha bebido un licor muy fuerte, cuyo beneficio los dioses conceden sólo a los elegidos, la mujer ha logrado
volver sin acabar de destruirse a la terraza de A Brasileira y aquí ha quedado convertida en una estatua, junto a la de
Pessoa, con los ojos llenos de melancolía. 'La realidad no me necesita'. Dentro de su propio bronce la mujer parece estar
pensando en estas palabras del poeta.
(2001 - © EL PAIS)

07 julho 2003

Gender Writing: can you tell male or female writing? Hah!

06 julho 2003

Manuel Vicent esta en Barcelona para participar
en uno de los espectáculos del Grec 2003, Solos.
"Tranvia a la Malvarrosa" (con la que me enamore
de Valencia), "Jardin de Villa Valeria" o "Pascua y
Naranjas" son algunas de sus obras...


04 julho 2003

Guide for a perfect cup of tea:

Flashback booth: Revered for 800 years, after all what is the Magna Carta?

03 julho 2003

Caaaaan't resissssst, this joke is too good:

A French teacher was explaining to her class that in French, unlike English,
nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" is feminine - "la maison."
"Pencil" is masculine - "le crayon."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female -
and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine
or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for their recommendation.


The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computer"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their intern al logic
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers,
is incomprehensible to everyone else
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later review
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending
half your salary on accessories for it.

*****************************

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("le computer") because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you first have to turn them on
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer,
you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.
16 REASONS WHY ALCOHOL SHOULD BE SERVED AT WORK...

It's an incentive to show up.
It leads to more honest communications.
It reduces complaints about low pay.
Employees tell management what they think, not what they want to hear.
It encourages car pooling.
Increase job satisfaction because if you have a bad job, you don't care.
It eliminates vacations because people would rather come to work.
It makes fellow employees look better.
It makes the cafeteria food taste better.
Bosses are more likely to hand out raises when they are wasted.
Salary negotiations are a lot more profitable.
Employees work later since there's no longer a need to relax at the bar.
It makes everyone more open with their ideas.
Eliminates the need for employees to get drunk on their lunch break...
Employees no longer need coffee to sober up.
Sitting "Bare ass" on the copy machine will no longer be seen as gross.
How crucial is it to sleep? Veryyyy.
"To sleep, perchance to dream-
ay, there's the rub."


02 julho 2003

Isn't it Ironic?
Actually no, it's a hundred other things, praise language diversity!
One is jealous of what one has, which may be okay, but envious of what others have, which is bad news.
Of the seven deadly sins, only
ENVY is no fun :-|

Here's a perfect example of a bridge between popular culture, "higher" culture and teaching, fostered by the Internet, whaddayaknow??
This is soooooooooo coooooooooooool
Philosophy & The Matrix

01 julho 2003



"Hanging on in quiet desperation
is the English way
the time is gone
the song is over
thought I'd something more to say
...
Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
it's good to walk my bones beside the fire"
ha ha ha
it turns out I'm hot chocolate...

The Art of Dying:
Changing attitudes to a good death from antiquity to the present day.
At King's College, now how interesting is that?
Care for a Drink?
Now what would that be...

What Drink Are You?
What Drink Are You?