Then we came to the end (by AD)

3 years and 3 months. Just because.

... and Poetry

How it makes of your face a stone
that aches to weep, of your heart a fist,
clenched or thumping, sweating blood, of your tongue
an iron latch with no door. How it makes of your right hand
a gauntlet, a glove-puppet of the left, of your laugh
a dry leaf blowing in the wind, of your desert island discs
hiss hiss hiss, makes of the words on your lips dice
that can throw no six. How it takes the breath
away, the piss, makes of your kiss a dropped pound coin,
makes of your promises latin, gibberish, feedback, static,
of your hair a wig, of your gait a plankwalk. How it says this –
politics – to your education education education; shouts this –
Politics! – to your health and wealth; how it roars, to your
conscience moral compass truth, POLITICS POLITICS POLITICS.

Carol Ann Duffy, Politics

[Her first intervention as Laureate Poet]

Weight loss

Faltava-me uma parte do mundo...

... mas já comecei as viagens. A Nigéria é o meu 37º país. Há ainda dois aeroportos novos: Dubai (o skyline da cidade é impressionante) e Tripoli.

Poem of the Week

Beijaram-me o rosto asas de borboleta
e se tingiram das cores do ocaso.

Maria Ângela Alvim

Keep on Rocking

My friend I. decided to depart Madrid with the light backpack version of her personal belongings, which implied quitting high heels and dresses for a few weeks, and embarked on a once in a life time adventure, the coast to coast by train. I. kick started the trip in Manhattan, because a girl needs some glamour to endure the road ahead. We ventured on May 16 to the outskirts of the city to spend a pleasant Spring afternoon at the Dia:Beacon. There, we indulged in high doses of creativity by the usual suspects of the U.S. art scene of the late XXth Century -- Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt and Donald Judd, as well as Tàpies, in a special exhibition -- The Resources of Rethoric. However, highlight of the highlights was the last Beacon Event performed by the Mercer Cunningham Dance Company. "…this Event consist[ed] of excerpts of dances from the repertory and new sequences arranged for the particular performance and place, with the possibility of several separate activities happening at the same time -- to allow not so much an afternoon of dances as the experience of dance" (Merce Cunningham). This was the second time I watched such a performance, this time the event was held at one of the two parallel galleries devoted to Imi Knoebel's 24 Colors—for Blinky (1977). After, there was Saturday dinner at Kittichai, followed by Sunday brunch at Felix and off she went on her adventure. Day 1 was May 15, but many days will elapse and many stories will unfold.

Impressionism Mode

As the weather warms up, people burst out of their winter cocoons and vibrate with the city even more. May has very much been about la joie de vivre, full of cultural and social events, topped with dear friends visiting from all over the world.

Is life realism or impressionism? That is the question posed by Impressionism, a play I saw on May 1st or the perfect way to kick of the Spring that finally descended upon Manhattan. Jeremy Irons is always charming and especially so when he plays a photographer that has seen most of the world through the lenses. At last, he finds himself in New York, the most charming city after all.

Photo credits: New York Magazine

Star Trek (2009)

I am not a big fan of Science-Fiction movies and did not remember many details of the series, so I am in a somewhat neutral position to comment on this movie. I went to see Star Trek with friends today. The movie, a chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members, is outstanding in every aspect -- a great script that keeps the suspense until the end (by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman); very good casting, truthful to the original characters (at least for what I could remember of them); the type of special effects that are available in today's world, but were not available at the time of the series; and the wonderful Leonard Nimoy, playing the eldest Spock. All in all, a movie full of character that leaves the door open for endless possibilities. I strongly recommend.