Mostly Music
quinta-feira, outubro 31
MY FAVORITE CDA POEM
CARTA
Há muito tempo, sim, que não te escrevo.
Ficaram velhas todas as notícias.
Eu mesmo envelheci: Olha, em relevo,
estes sinais em mim, não das carícias
(tão leves) que fazias no meu rosto:
são golpes, são espinhos, são lembranças
da vida ao teu menino, que ao sol posto
perde a sabedoria das crianças.
A falta que me fazes não é tanto
à hora de dormir, quando dizias
"Deus te abençoe", e a noite abria em sonho
É quando, ao despertar, revejo a um canto
a noite acumulada de meus dias,
e sinto que estou vivo, e que não sonho.
Se a infância restaura,
Em sonho, o universo
Que teu mome, Laura
Renove meu verso
E dê à poesia
Aquele frescor
Que ao nascer do dia
Exala uma flor
quarta-feira, outubro 30
AND I THOUGHT THAT I WAS FAT!
This was on CNN.com
Woman squashed by plane passenger
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON, England -- A woman injured while squeezed next to an obese passenger on a trans-Atlantic flight has been given £13,000 ($20,000) by the airline.
Barbara Hewson, 63, was offered damages by Virgin Atlantic after suffering a blood clot, torn leg muscles and sciatica following a flight to Los Angeles in January 2001, the UK's Press Association reported.
She said the woman passenger was so large she had to sit with the arm rests up, but when she complained, the crew said there was nothing they could do as the plane was full.
Hewson, of Swansea, Wales, who still has medical treatment, was quoted by PA on Monday as saying: "It was never about the money. No money would pay for you having sleepless nights with the pain."
The freelance writer, who travelled with her husband Roy, 67, said she spent most of her holiday in bed. "It ruined the holiday. We went out very little."
Hewson added that half-way through the flight the woman asked if she was okay, saying to her: "I'm sitting on your lap."
"I had three sessions of sitting in the hostess seat and I stood for a little while," added Hewson.
Virgin Atlantic said in a statement: "This was an unprecedented set of extremely unfortunate circumstances.
"We have apologised to Mrs Hewson and offered her compensation, which she has accepted, and we are pleased that this has now reached a conclusion."
domingo, outubro 27
ROSSINI AND SPAIN
Frequently, when I don’t like a CD, I feel compelled to write many paragraphs to justify my point of view. Praise, on the other hand, seems to preclude any justifications. So be warned, this will be a short review.
When I first heard this recording, I was reminded of a great little scene from the film Charade. It goes more or less like this: a furious Audrey Hepburn turns to Cary Grant (at his handsomest) and snaps “You know what is wrong with you?” And after a slight pause, sulking – “absolutely nothing!”.
This is precisely the case, here. This rarely heard repertoire (fun romantic Spanish music written in Rossinian vein) is brought to life with passion and competence. In fact, Carnicer or Romero could not have chosen a better champion. Joan Enric Lluna is a fabulous performer, endowed with a warm sound, brilliant technique and ample dynamic range. These qualities are used wisely, to offset his very musical interpretations, simultaneously light-hearted and fiery, full of intelligence, with a well-placed sense of humour and phrasings that are smooth as velvet. To boot, Lluna finds in Nigel Clayton his perfect match, a pianist who allows the soloist to be free, while maintaining the pulse of the pieces, who plays with the necessary gusto but never, for a moment, overshadows his partner.
So what on earth are you doing, still reading this review? Run to the nearest store, and buy this CD!
ROSSINI Y ESPAÑA Clarinet and piano music by Ramon CARNICER, Antonio ROMERO, Gioachino Rossini, Iwan MÜLLER, Ernesto CAVALLINI. Joan Enric Lluna (cl.); Nigel Clayton (pn.) harmonia mundi HMI 987029 (69:54)
LAZY SUNDAY
Today was another glorious day. A voting day. After spending the morning in bed (trying to cure my cold) I did my civic duty, and then went with Hermano to visit Meg, my friend. This was to be a short visit, I just wanted to give her some nice stationary that I had brought back from the States. I ended up staying a llloooonnnggg time, with Meg there is always so much to talk about. Besides, Selma served a delicious shrimp dish (my favorite!!!) and later a bowl of home made ice-cream. It is hard to diet when you have friends like mine....
sexta-feira, outubro 25
BRASIL!
Back home. I am tired, I have a bad cold. And yet.... I love this country! The sky is blue, the friends are showing up, my students call non-stop, my daughters look beautiful, the food by Suely is scrumptious. Last but not least, it was great to open my door and find Antonia already here. The fact is that I have been home for a day and a half, and I have not yet left my apartment. I haven't starved (quite the reverse!) and I have already seen Hermano, Rodrigo, d'Artagnan, Ana Paula, Suely, Leandro and Bia. And my friends Veruschka, Elizete, Cláudia, Sula, Maria Angela, João and Ruth have called me, besides my Mom, my sister and my students Michele, Rafaela, Daniele, Carolina, Rafael, Cláudia, Macla, Ellen, Thiago...Why is it that this seems to me like something that would have been impossible in the States?
terça-feira, outubro 15
OF CATALOGUES, BOOKS AND PEOPLE
My friend Janet and I share a common passion for ....catalogues. Chico’s, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Macy’s, you name it. And as the years go by (and as more and more writers and poets become unemployed lost souls) the catalogues become an outlet for the poetic imagination, and a source of income for the destitute artist. As to us, we get the advantage of reading about the most prosaic stuff in the most elevated language. Even colors are now subjected to an elaborate range of descriptive terms. Purple, red, green, these are all demodé words. Comforters are now “sage”, “lavender” or “plum”. Shirts are not brown, but rather “creamy chocolate”. And speaking of chocolate, today I ate an ice-cream that was labeled “death by chocolate”. Good old caramel became “butter brickle”.
So I was commenting a chapter in the book Ex-libris, in which the author mentions this very phenomena. Janet says: “ Ex-Libris! How curious, Hugh has just read the same book! What an extraordinary coincidence!”. I look at Hugh and he had a very bewildered expression. Mildly ashamed, and not totally convinced I had grasped the meaning of the text that we had both read, he confessed that he did not remember any mention to catalogues in Ex-libris, and in fact this mention seemed highly unlikely, considering the book’ s subject matter..
My first reaction was to imagine that men and women live in such different worlds that even when we read the same words, we focus on completely diverse aspects of the text. Men are from Mars, women from Venus....that sort of thing. I remembered the story of the blind men describing an elephant.... It took us a minute or two to sort out the mess.
We had read two different books, indeed. Both are called Ex-Libris. One, by Anne Fadimann, is a small volume of personal insights dealing with books and litterature, as well as thoughts about how people relate to books and reading, in general. Hugh’ s Ex-Libris is a novel by Ross King, a thriller set in 17th Century Europe, whose central character, Isaac Inchbold, is a London bookseller and antiquarian. Hugh lent it to me. I can’t wait to read it, even though it ignores catalogues and department stores.....
segunda-feira, outubro 14
Roubei...
de Elis (Via Tom)
1- Que horas são?
R: 19:35
2 - Nome e apelido.
R: Laura. E todos os diminutivos possíveis.
3 - Quantidade de velas no teu último bolo de aniversário?
R: Uma. Meus amigos foram simpáticos.
4 - Furos nas orelhas?
R: Um. Em cada uma....
5 - Tatuagens?
R: Eu hein...
6- Já foi à África ?
R: Não. Mas não senti lá muita falta.
7 - Já se embebedou?
R: De fazer strip-tease em cima da mesa, nunca. Mas já tive ressaca de vinho vagabundo...
8 - Amou tanto alguém que chorou muito por ele?
R: Nossa, dava para regar todas as árvores do aterro.
9 - Já esteve envolvida em algum acidente de carro?
R : Eu dirigindo, nunca. Mas no banco do passageiro, umas duas ou três vezes. Uma dessas, a Júlia era bebê e estava mamando, no meu colo, meio dormindo. O fusquinha ficou destruído, e ela nem abriu os olhos....
10 - Prefere Pregos ou cachorros quentes?
R: Pregos, ora pois pois...
11 - Peixe ou carne?
R: Carne. E camarão, sempre.
12 - Sprite ou Seven UP?
R: Água de coco.
13 - Cerveja ou Champanhe?
R : Pina colada. Sorry.
14 - Café ou chá?
R: Café, direto na veia!
15 - O copo é metade cheio ou metade vazio?
R: Metade cheio.
16 - Lençóis de cama lisos ou estampados?
R: Estampados, de algodão puro, o mais macios possíveis. Sou fresca.
17 - Cor das meias?
R: Pretas, com algum desenho engraçado.
18 - Lugar onde te beijem?
R: Na nuca.
19 - Feriado favorito?
R: Como toda boa judia, o Natal!
20 - Canção que estás a escutar neste momento?
R: O Silêncio é de ouro.
21 - Flor(es)?
R: Orquídeas.
24 - Tom ou Jerry?
R: Snoopy.
25 - Disney ou Warner Bros?
R: Disney .
26 - Restaurante de comida rápida?
R: Bob's. Queijo com banana e milk-shake de ovomaltine. Ué, e vocês estavam achando que eu sou gorda de graça?
27 - Quando foi a tua última visita ao hospital?
R: Quando mamãe quebrou o pé.
28 - De que cor é o carpete do teu quarto?
R: Carpete? Por quem me tomas? Parquet com tapete persa, que eu mereço...
29 - Como chamava o teu ursinho de pelúcia?
R: Dorka. Ainda se chama, e agora é da Manoela.
30 - Quantas vezes foi reprovado no exame de condução?
R: Nunca. Por incrível que possa parecer.
31 - Como se vê daqui a 10 anos?
R. Com um salário decente. Mais serena. Grisalha.
32 - De que pessoa recebeste este questionário?
R: Do blog da Elis.
33 - Quem dos teus amigos vive mais longe?
R: Muitos. O Tom, a Janet, a Cindy, a Sandy, o Ed, o Sérgio Canetti, o Bruno, o Luiz...
34 - O melhor amigo?
R: O Hermano.
35 - Hora de Dormir?
R: Quando bate o sono. Bem tarde.
36 - Quantas vezes deixas tocar o telefone antes de atenderes?
R: Até eu descobrir onde foi parar a porcaria do telefone sem fio.
37 - O que tens debaixo do mouse do computador?
R: Um mouse pad com gel para poupar o pulso.
38 - CD?
R: Pletnev, agora.
39 - Pior Sentimento do mundo?
R: Perder quem a gente ama.
40 - Melhor sentimento do mundo?
R: Receber beijo e abraço das filhas.
41 - O primeiro pensamento que tens ao acordar?
R: "Estou com fome".
42 - Se pudesse ser outra pessoa quem seria?
R: Bach, mas só por um mês.
43 - O que é que tens debaixo da cama?
R : Uma gaveta em que guardo minhas bolsas.
44 - Que horas são?
R: 19:50 (levei horas para achar os acentos nesse computador!)
