Relax

ATM is a friend!

Paradise

21-12-2008 Chirombo Bay. The lake is calm, silence takes over the world and one is sure to find true peace here.

The Journey

Another Christmas spent with those most precious has come and gone and one feels the luckiest person to have such a close knit family ready to do anything to continue making this season the one to look forward too all year long.

17-12-2008 Lisbon-Paris Air France The plane was supposed to leave at 18h but delayed quite a bit which got the blood rushing cause the time for the connecting flight in Charles de Gaulle was short.

17-12-2008 Paris-Johannesburg Just made the flight in time... the marathon across the recently rebuilt Parisian airport was exhausting. When finally installed in the plane the captain announces a delay 'cause the wings needed to be de-iced. Take-off is finally announced 'round midnight.

18-12-2008 Late arrival at Tambo International Airport in JHB and another quick run to the Air Malawi counter to try catch the last plane out to Lilongwe. Made it! The plane leaves at midday.

18-12-2008 Arrival at Lilongwe International Airport (formerly or still known as Kamuzu International Airport) at around 3pm and the expected disappointment - the luggage was nowhere to be seen...either it stayed behind in Paris or JHB. No worries... all we want is to get to the final destination! Blantyre - the great city where I was born.

18-12-2008 - Arrival at the final destination - Chileka Airport (Blantyre). Everyone's there... sitting on the rooftop waving about trying to find out where we're seated. The plane door opens and there we go... first Baba, then I down the stairs looking out to the prettiest people in the world waiting for us :) I guess walking down the red carpet come Oscar night doesn't come anywhere close to this moment. After around 24hours of flying, running and carrying overwheigt trolleys we're finally there...and it's ALL worth it.

The secret for sticking together

It may well be... that Malawi holds the secret for reducing the divorce rate.

2 ladies and a gentleman

Returning home after a hard day of last minute Christmas Shopping

Downtown Blantyre

Taken from the back seat of the car while driving around Blantyre... some things remain unchanged

Air Malawi

Flying since September 1st 1967...

After two flights from Lisbon to Paris and from Paris to Jo'burg, exhaust had kicked in. The flights delayed in Lisbon and again in Paris because of weather conditions which made the whole journey just a little more exhausting. Arrival at OR Tambo International Airport (formerly officially known as Johannesburg International Airport and before that as Jan Smuts International Airport) was hectic. The airport has undergone massive changes (probably in preparation for the upcomming Football World Cup in 2010) wich made us run like madmen hoping to catch the last flight out to Malawi. It was a relief to see that the QM flight hadn't left yet and we made it just in time. Just from seeing the plane already felt a little closer to home.

Season Greetings (anticipated)

Not knowing if there'll be a chance to post in the near future I can't help but to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year. Christmas is best when spent among family, friends and warmth... be it emotional or physical.
The warm heart of Africa will surely be a warm welcome.

2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The Verdict is in, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominations for the Golden Globe Awards (which usually give an insight to the next Oscar nominations). It's a pity most of the nominated films for Best motion Picture haven't yet arrived in this little corner of the world.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
THE READER
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
DANNY BOYLE – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
STEPHEN DALDRY – THE READER
DAVID FINCHER – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
RON HOWARD – FROST/NIXON
SAM MENDES – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
ANNE HATHAWAY – RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
ANGELINA JOLIE – CHANGELING
MERYL STREEP – DOUBT
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T’AIME)
KATE WINSLET – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
LEONARDO DICAPRIO – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
FRANK LANGELLA – FROST/NIXON
SEAN PENN – MILK
BRAD PITT – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
MICKEY ROURKE – THE WRESTLER

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
BURN AFTER READING
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
IN BRUGES
MAMMA MIA!
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Why Kathleen...

When creating a profile some months ago little did I know how intriguing the name chosen would become. There isn't a specific reason just a bundle of thoughts that crossed my mind at the time.

Kathleen because it's a lovely name, because it's a beautiful song by Townes Van Zandt, because it's Tindersticks' best cover bound to goose bump even the coldest of mankind, because I have a one-of-a-kind Kathleen painting and some other odd reasons.

It's plain to see, the sun won't shine today
But I ain't in the mood for sunshine anyway
Maybe I'll go insane
I got to stop the pain
Or maybe I'll go down to see Kathleen.

A swallow comes and tells me of her dreams
She says she'd like to know just what they mean
I feel like I could die
As I watch her flying by
Ride the north wind down to see Kathleen.

Stars hang high above, the oceans roar
The moon is come to lead me to her door
There's crystal across the sand
And the waves, they take my hand.
Soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen.

Soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen.

Secrets & Smiles

God Knows (you Gotta Give To Get)

All the way from Gothenburg, Sweden, El Perro del Mar will most certainly be one of the highlights of the first of two night's in Lisbon's first winter festival. The weather is definitely appropriate (cause it doesn't get more miserable than this-rain-cold-wind-ice) for the theme and Cabaret Maxime, where the venue is to be held, is probably one of the cosiest places to watch such a concert.
The cherry on the top comes tomorrow when Sarah Assbring performs a guest appearance with Lykke Li (also from Sweden, but raised in Lisbon-Portugal for a couple of years) in Teatro Variedades (Parque Mayer) tomorrow in the early evening.

Overheard

"politics is a lot like sex - if you want something, you have to ask for it, if they’re not doing it right you’ve got to speak up and show them and if you still don’t get what you want, then there is nothing wrong with doing it yourself!"

got me in fits...

"a dolorous mixture of apparently inconsolable grief and string-laden, slow-burn melodies."

Interviews given by members of the Tindersticks are few and therefore to be savoured by those interested.

Lived in bars

two consecutive posts on the same topic isn't politicly correct... but so aren't sooo many things. This video is a true pearl

Cat Power - Dark End of the Street

A mountain of expectation always builds up when news arises of a new Cat Power EP. Dark End of the Street (release date 9th December 2008) offers a collection that crosses the pond to cover the Pogues, goes back to the Sixties for Creedence Clearwater Revivial's "Fortunate Son," and explores classic Motown with interpretations of Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.
Another cover album that proves much can be done and appreciated when a beautiful voice interprets excellent songs. The a me of the album comes from James Carr's soul classic many a times been covered before.

I've been loving you too long (Otis Redding) grows on you like mould on camembert.

Small things like these just make life a little more interesting.

Cat Power
Dark End of the Street EP
Release Date: December 9, 2008
Label: Matador Records

Estoril Film Festival

14th to 22nd of NOVEMBER

"...The Competition section focuses on the quality of European cinema. For the Out of Competition section, geographical boundaries are banned, thus showing what the cinematographic world has best to offer on a technical and artistic level..."

This time up for grabs (hopefully) is the mentioned before.. CLAIRE DENIS film 35 rhums - November 19th 19.30h.

Saudade

another great picture with a message... wish I'd been the one with this imagination!

missing my mum, dad, sister, friends, family, pets, anything really.. .just makes you think how great thing are when they're there...

CLINIC - Tomorrow (Do It)

quoting Tindersticks

In his last LP, out November 3rd 2008 "Quinze Chansons", Vincent Delerm quotes Tindersticks.

In "Je pense à toi" a posh, frenchy "Tindersticks" can be heard.

...Ou bien on va au bord de l'eau
Je pense à toi
Ou bien on dort dans un bureau
Ça ressemble à quoi
D'accoupler dans un sac plastique
Peter Falk et les Tindersticks...

go figure...

35 Rhums (Claire Denis)

Claire Denis' latest film was screened in Venice during the last week of August this year and once again grabbed (some) of the critics' likes. For some odd reason or another it was rejected to enter the competition (both in the Venice film festival and in Cannes).

Shane Danielsen writing in indieWIRE had to say:

"magnificently directed, faultlessly performed, alert to the beauty and mystery of commonplace things."

The Plot
A father and his daughter live together in a Paris apartment. He is a train driver; she works in a fast food restaurant. They are perfectly happy together, settled in a routine of comfortable domesticity. Upstairs lives a man who is hopelessly in love with the daughter, and across the courtyard lives an older woman, a taxi driver, who pines for the father. These four players, and the cat's-cradle of their relationships, define the world of the film, which, though intimate, never feels circumscribed. On the contrary, it teems with life and detail (for which, credit must also go to her longtime cinematographer, Agnes Godard)."

Photography by Agnes Godard's

Music by Tindersticks

Friends of great talent

Another great picture taken with a simple Sony DSC-80. It was chosen among hundreds as one of the top 10 pictures taken during a photography marathon (I Maratona Fotográfica da Fábrica da Pólvora) organised earlier this year. The remaining nine photographs will be published online soon. On November the 16th these pictures will be present in the exhibition entitled "Exposição de Fotografia Água" in Edifício 51 da fábrica da Pólvora.

United States of America elects it's 44th President

A global advertising agency - Grey New York , released a striking image (referred to as 'Obamccain') on the night before the elections with the the following message: "Let the Issues Be the Issue".
Grey New York's Chief Creative Officer had to say: "This is a non-partisan image. We wanted to address the race issue straight on. And it cuts both ways. If you're hopping on either candidate's bandwagon solely due to the color of their skin, you're voting for the wrong reasons."
It seems like voters did put aside all evident differences between the Senators and voted blindly.

The final results dictated:
Obama - 364 Electoral votes (270 needed to win)
McCain - 163 Electoral votes

Due 2009 - Nine (Rob Marshall)

Another film to wait for, next year, is Nine, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha). Based on the 1982 Tony Award-winning musical of the same name and with an excellent cast (Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Fergie - yep... BEP lady), Nine is bound to be a winner.

Go Fergie!
Rumor has it that Fergie is battling to put on weight (especially on her skinny legs) for her upcoming role in the film - a prostitute named Saraghina. Apparently, the singer/actress was told to pack on a load of pounds, and is currently rehearsing in Britain before shooting the first scenes.

Fergie had to say: "I actually love (British food). I was actually told to gain weight for the film so I've been eating everything - anything and everything. That's why I am covering up except for my legs because they never gain weight and that's the only part that never changes but everything else is covered."

Tindersticks to play in Portugal come February

During the month of February of the coming year, Stuart Staples, David Boulter, Neil Fraser and accompanying musicians (namely on the strings) will come back to, this time, play in an appropriate hall - Casa da Musica (Porto). The band last performed in Portugal in August this year at a summer festival (Sudoeste) to present their latest album "The Hungry saw" with the following setlist:
Introduction
Yesterdays
The Flicker
Otherside
If you're looking
Say Goodbye
Travelling Light (MPF of the evening)
Hungry Saw
Her (another of MPF's)
Mother Dear
Boobar
The Turns We Took

anxiously awaiting...

Some things aren't supposed to be missed

Porto - Coliseu do Porto, 28the May 2008

Childhood Memories

Sometimes a picture brings back memories. This one did. Along with songs sung in BMS Choir.

Such a feelin's coming over me
There is wonder in most every thing I see
Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream

Everything I want the world to be
Is now coming true especially for me
And the reason is clear, it's because you are here
You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen

I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world

Something in the wind has learned my name
And it's telling me that things are not the same
In the leaves on the trees and the touch of the breeze
There's a pleasin' sense of happiness for me

There is only one wish on my mind
When this day is through I hope that I will find
That tomorrow will be just the same for you and me
All I need will be mine if you are here

Top of the World - The Carpenters

Burn After Reading (Ethan and Joel Coen)

Once again the Coen brothers put together a suspense film without any of the logic of a typical Hollywood thriller. Burn After Reading is nothing but an excellent joke about how idiotic people (of all sorts of age/generation/career/upbringing/social status/etc.) can be. In spite of having spies, suspense, assassinations and thrills, it comes across as a surreal satire about spy thrillers.
The characters are madly absurd - no one really knows anything and what they do know isn't very important to anyone but themselves. The plot is completely ridiculous, nothing adds up as everyone lives in their own little bubble of obsession and confusion.
The film shouldn’t work, but it does.

Harry (George Clooney) is a federal marshal who is addicted to internet dating websites and has a weird fetish for wooden floor finishings. He is having one too many affairs: 1 - Linda (Frances McDormand), a needy secretary as well as a jittery instructor at Hardbodies Gym who convinces herself that costly cosmetic medical procedures will make her more desirable; and 2 - a bitter, loathsome paediatrician Katie (Tilda Swinton) who is married to Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich). Osbourne is a CIA agent who gets sacked because of his drinking problem and the fact that his wife, Katie, is banging more wooden planes of his boat than ever the ocean waves did, seems to be totally beyond him.
There's also Chad (Brad Pitt), a bubble-gum air-head who works as a trainer at the gym who can't live without his bike or his iPod and is Linda's best buddy.
The plot thickens and the characters come together when a CD of incomprehensible CIA type material referred to as “top-secret shit” by Chad containing Malkovich’s mad Balkan memoirs is discovered on the floor of a changing room at Hardbodies.

On the whole there is chilling cynical tone to the whole film but one has to be very attentive to notice it because the hilarious scenes, the set details and the great photography are bound to grab your attention.

Overpowered

Róisín Murphy will be playing in Lisbon in less than 24h. Overpowered is an understatement (IMO) a great voice in one of the best places to attend concerts - gotta be great!

Anxiously awaiting

For another great EP:

Promissed in the US next year on February 17 and February 16 in Europe. Good things come to those who wait.

Games-Fun-Fishes-Messages

10 Things I like:

Fish
Diving in the Red Sea
Lake Malawi
The Atlantic Ocean
Games
Word Games
Thinking Games
Messages
Written art
Stories (made up or even for real)

Underwater Scream

Don't you ever get the feeling that everything you say, try or attempt to communicate is buffered in some kind of a deep river, sea or even an ocean. Probably one of the most unpleasant occurrences to have doomed upon me is that of: "not being heard", "understood" or even "given a remote chance".

Cherry Blossoms

A black television screen
Snow white and black
Deep and open
Splashing against the windows
Looking out onto a three-terrace town
There’s a garden, grey-green
And cherry blossoms
Get in in the morning (All seasons here, saved for a rainy day)
Climb in beside you (A part of a hole)
Watch the clock for half an hour (An orange and its peel)
It’s cold on the outside
There’s steam on the windows (A star in a night sky)
And I put myself there all the time (A gentle beauty)
You let me forget again
And I snore on and on
You let me forget again
Forget how it feels to be wrong
If I could show her completely (Funny how everything makes you feel low when you’re already low)
But it comes out so drunkardly now (Lying on the bed, the light-bulb banging down)
Fall over on my words (Get up, pull the sheet from the window, to see the rain still coming down)
That peace when the door slams (Downstairs there’s hot coffee, sit down to a cigarette)
Soon shattered the hot light (Down to the filter, another and down to my last)
I came so well-oiled (Another and my last penny)
You let me forget again (4 a.m. 6 feet down. Already up with the larks)
And I came stumbling through
You let me forget again (4 a.m. 6 feet down. Already up with the larks)
Forget what I always knew

Cherry Blossoms - Tindersticks

Guillaume Depardieu dies at 37

One can’t compare the two events but 2008 has been somewhat of unexpected loss of young talent in the film industry. Following the headlines that made covers early this year: “January 22, 2008 – Actor Heath Ledger dies at 28”, yesterday’s news came of no lesser shock.

Actor Guillaume Depardieu (son of Gerard Depardieu) starred in a number of films since the beginning of the nineties and in 1996 won the prize as the most promising young actor at the César awards, France's equivalent of the Academy Awards, for his role in the film 'Les Apprentis' (The Apprentices). In 1999 he starred in Pola X (1999) (Leos Carax) alongside Catherine Deneuve, a film based on the Herman Melville novel Pierre: or, The Ambiguities. Guillaume’s short lived life wasn’t all peace, he was known for his rebellious streak (speeding, drugs, and a conviction for drink-driving) along with the unfortunate amputation of his right leg in 2003 to end years of pain from a bacterial infection following a motorcycle accident in 1996 did little to ease him. News has it that Guillaume had been hospitalized in a western Paris suburb overnight from Sunday to Monday after contracting a virus that developed into a "devastating case of pneumonia".

Currently he can be seen in the film “Versailles” (Pierre Schöller) showing in French cinemas.

Dedicated fans

you put a smile on my face *

Doomed for life to beer

"HOMEWORK 3 – Microfluidics
1. You are working in a company that is hired to design and fabricate a microfluidic device to
detect the presence of a particular toxic protein in a food supply (beer, in this case). You
want a device that is portable, does the analysis fast, is sensitive, uses small quantities of
sample and reactants, and is inexpensive.
The challenge is to develop a concept for this purpose. Make any assumptions and
approximations that you consider appropriate."

even at work I have to deal with beer...

Empty Shell

Being by far one of my favourite voices in the world with the greatest music ever sang with pure emotion and complete honesty, it is gruelling to even attempt to choose only one song above all. But (and I know it's completely wrong to start a sentence with "but", but right now... I couldn't be bothered with it) in the last days I've grown to love a particular one. Empty Shell is probably one of the most simple songs amongst Cat Power's jewellery box, but right now is the one I would bid on if I had to choose only one song to play before going into some deep induced sleep (lasting for over 36 hours). I need the sleep.

State of mind

some days are just meant to be spent in bed

The wheel has to keep on turning

The London Eye – August 2008


I’m pretty sure that back in 1893, when George Washington Gale Ferris conceived the idea of the wonder of the Fair in Chicago he didn’t exactly have this in mind. Fixing the cars at thirty-six, the number of seats in each car, the admission fee, the size, the plan of stopping six times in the first round to load yet another one without stopping and all these details make him, no doubt, a genius of engineering… but (to me) a lot more than so.
One can look at the Ferris Wheel as merely a ride of pleasure. The sight-seer is elevated two hundred and fifty feet above the ground and the movement is gentle and nearly noiseless. On the other hand…
In a far fetching idea the ride can be encountered as a one in a life time experience. One of the few chances to place a wining bet on the game with the highest stakes ever. Imagine that each car represents either a positive or negative vibe known to mankind. Cars of hope, faith, loyalty, understanding, respect, acceptance, joy, optimism, modesty, kindness, tolerance, freedom, courage, mercy, self-confidence, openness, reverence, faithfulness, compassion contrast with cars of despair, regret, greed, desire, lust, impatience, fear, pride, anguish, pain, jealousy, envy, self-pettiness, unhappiness, selfishness, sadness and hate.
The choice isn’t entirely in our hands nor is it completely random, each of us adds guidelines through everyday life pointing the direction of which car we’ll land in on the next visit to the fair. Having landed in negative car one has to wait for the right time to place another bet, and this time hope for a better round.

Great news for many people

...especially those with whom one or more of the following adjectives may comply: great taste, poor or alone this evening


Portal Sapo transmite Benfica - Nápoles

"O SAPO vai transmitir esta quinta-feira em directo o jogo entre o Benfica e o Nápoles, a segunda mão da primeira eliminatória da Taça UEFA
A emissão começa às 18.15h e a partir das 20.15h pode ver o jogo na íntegra no Estádio Virtual, sendo feito, igualmente, o acompanhamento de toda a emissão da Benfica TV.
Além da transmissão em directo é ainda possível ver vídeos com as jogadas mais importantes e fotografias do jogo.
A transmissão está disponível para Portugal, Suíça, Alemanha, Luxemburgo, Liechtenstein, Venezuela, Inglaterra, Espanha, Timor Leste e os PALOP.Na televisão, em Portugal, o Benfica - Nápoles será transmitido gratuitamente e em exclusivo para todos os clientes Meo, numa emissão especial da Benfica TV, cujo lançamento está previsto para o próximo mês.
Em conjunto com o Sport Lisboa e Benfica foi também disponibilizada a emissão de televisão para Angola, Cabo Verde, Moçambique e S. Tomé e Príncipe."

-in http://noticias.sapo.pt

A new window in the search for Earth-like worlds

Using an armada of telescopes, scientists from the University of Toronto revealed images of what is probably the smallest planet ever detected around a normal star outside our solar system. The Gemini North telescope located in Mauna Kea - Hawaii captured images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. The extra solar planet is five times as massive as Earth and orbits a red dwarf, a relatively cool star (similar in mass to the Sun, but is much younger), every 10 years. The distance between the planet and its host is around three times greater than that between the Earth and the Sun. The planet's large orbit and its dim parent star make its likely surface temperature a approximately -220ºC. This temperature is similar to that of Pluto, but the newly found planet is about one-tenth closer to its star than Pluto is to the Sun.

Comin soon

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher)
With a release date until the end of this year this seems like it might just be the film to have waited for. With a budget of some odd 150 million USD, director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) along with writer Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich) have finally put together an excellent cast to rekindle the 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

"Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born as a feeble old man, and ages in reverse until he becomes a baby at the end of his life. This causes complications when he falls in love with a 30-year-old woman (Cate Blanchett)."

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Sidney Lumet)

First and above all "Before the Devil knows you're Dead" is living proof that, although now into his eighties, Sidney Lumet (12 angry men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Gloria, Night Falls on Manhattan) hasn't lost his edge.

The first five minutes of the gory, dark and twisted tale of greed and betrayal, introduce us to a naked, overweight corporate executive for a large New York real-estate firm, Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in the heat of passion with his high-maintenance trophy wife, Gina (Marisa Tomei). Quickly, we realize that, along with his unflatteringly figure, Andy's life if far from picture perfect: an appreciable portion of his six figure salary goes up his nose, into his arm and into the lavish lifestyle Gina has become accustomed to.

Conveniently, Hank (Ethan Hawke), Andy's younger, good-for-nothing brother has financial troubles of his own, albeit of a more subtle sort (child support, school tuition and probably a considerable liquor bill at Mooney's). So Andy, who's always imagined himself the responsible, successful and smart brother, enlists the assistance of his struggling brother in hatching what's supposed to be the perfect, victimless solution to all their troubles: Hank will rob a “mom and pop” jewellery store — their own mom and pop’s (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) jewelry store.

The the title of the film, taken from the end line of an old Irish toast, "May you be in heaven half an hour, before the devil knows you're dead" is spot on and more than appropriate.

Swimmer

Proof that not only Phelps makes a great picture

I live here

"...Over the past few years, 33-year-old Kirshner has traveled to some of the most desolate and dangerous countries in the world to see and meet some of the most victimized people, in hopes of bringing the world’s attention to their plight...
...Much acclaimed comics journalist Joe Sacco, creator of Palestine, produces a graphic novel that examines war-torn Ingushetia, Chechnya; comics memoirist Phoebe Gloeckner examines the serial killing of women in Juarez, Mexico; French-Algerian artist Kamel Khélif surveys ethnic killing in Burma and Thailand; and finally, there’s a children’s story by author J.B. McKinnon and artist Julie Morstad that tackles the AIDS epidemic the African country of Malawi...
...Kirshner has also founded the I Live Here Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to “telling the stories of silenced and unheard people” through a variety of media projects, as well as establishing writing programs, beginning with a program that will launch in Lilongwe, Malawi..."

Gomorra (Matteo Garrone)

Gomorra controls Naples. A cynical fiction based analysis of a criminal organization. The passiveness of corruption is striking and the narrative is fair but a whole two hours and a half tends to somewhat exaggerate certain scenes.

Dynamic London

Taken on a summery night near Piccadilly Circus. There are so many things London is famous for, the black taxis, the underground, the mailboxes (that always remind me of postman Pat), the red telephone booths, the Buckingham palace guards, the queen, the London eye, etc but my personal favourite are the double-decker buses. I've always loved the idea of driving around big cities being just that little bit higher than everybody else. I guess that some things have changed since my first visit to London (some odd 20 years ago) when my very favourite was definitely the underground...and Hameleys of course. Some childhood holidays remain forever.

Something in the air (tonight)

from the talented of friends

Mind your step

Starbucks in Lisbon - finally

September 30th marks the date... so it has been anounced. The long awaited opening is near.

"...As lonas que tapam o espaço ao lado da Benetton, no 2º piso do shopping Alegro, em Alfragide estão a 13 dias de desaparecer no dia 30 deste mês." in SABADO (18th September 2008)

Some facts:

- 3 minutes is the maximum time you'll be left waiting to get attended
- 10 seconds is the maximum time you'll wait to get your coffee
- a frappuccino can have up to 650 calories

Enjoy!

Mamma Mia (Phyllida Lloyd)

Something fun for summer but somewhat disappointing. Meryl Streep is great and Amanda Seyfried (Alpha Dog) can carry a note . Despite having a sound soaring male cast it's sad to see that neither Pierce Brosnan nor Colin Firth could join any junior scouts' choir.

Cat power

"If animals could speak the dog would be a a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much."
- Mark Twain

To start off with: The end