EIS um poema que ouvi ontem ser lido na rádio, declamado pelo autor, Jorge Sousa Braga. Vai claramente beber à poesia beat e é excelente. Aqui fica, com votos de um bom ano novo para os que vão passando por este cantinho global:


Portugal

Eu tenho vinte e dois anos e tu às vezes fazes-me sentir como se tivesse oitocentos
Que culpa tive eu que D. Sebastião fosse combater os infiéis ao norte de África
só porque não podia combater a doença que lhe atacava os órgãos genitais e nunca mais voltasse
Quase chego a pensar que é tudo uma mentira
que o Infante D. Henrique foi uma invenção do Walt Disney
e o Nuno Álvares Pereira uma reles imitação do Príncipe Valente
Portugal
Não imaginas o tesão que sinto quando ouço o hino nacional
(que os meus egrégios avós me perdoem)
Ontem estive a jogar póker com o velho do Restelo
Anda na consulta externa do Júlio de Matos
Deram-lhe uns electro-choques e está a recuperar
àparte o facto de agora me tentar convencer que nos espera um futuro de rosas
Portugal
Um dia fechei-me no Mosteiro dos Jerónimos a ver se contraía a febre do Império
mas a única coisa que consegui apanhar foi um resfriado
Virei a Torre do Tombo do avesso sem lograr uma pérola que fosse
das rosas que Gil Eanes trouxe do Bojador
Portugal
Vou contar-te uma coisa que nunca contei a ninguém
Sabes
Estou loucamente apaixonado por ti
Pergunto a mim mesmo
Como me pude apaixonar por um velho decrépito e idiota como tu
mas que tem o coração doce ainda mais doce que os pastéis de Tentugal
e o corpo cheio de pontos negros para poder espremer à minha vontade
Portugal estás a ouvir-me?
Eu nasci em mil novecentos e cinquenta e sete Salazar estava no poder 
nada de ressentimentos
um dia bebi vinagre 
nada de ressentimentos
Portugal
Sabes de que cor são os meus olhos?
São castanhos como os da minha mãe
Portugal
gostava de te beijar muito apaixonadamente
na boca

The best photographs of 2012

FROM the camaraderie of the Tour de France to snipers in Syria, Sarah Gilbert selects her favourite pictures of the year

Guggenheim Museum, New York

Guggenheim Museum, New York, originally uploaded by ZUCCONY.

EL PAIS faz ponto da situação política em Portugal.

Boas festas!

Decorações de Natal na Praça do Leal Senado, originally uploaded by BARBOSA BRIOSA.

Bad taste, walled beach

The endless construction works at Hac Sa beach seem to be near completion. It’s been years since the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) started ravaging the beach, cutting down old trees and building a huge wall along the shore, covering most of the stretch of sand.
IACM justifies the works due to the heavy damage caused by Typhoon Hagupit in September 2008. In the aftermath of the storm, the institute decided to build a wall which is supposed to help retain seawater to avoid damage during typhoon season. Certain parts of the wall are as high as two meters. Figures released last year indicate that the construction was budgeted at around MOP20 million.
The building of a wall to protect the “Hellen Garden” neighborhood is questionable but understandable. But the high-rise buildings that unfortunately were built so close to the sea are located at one end of the beach. If a wall was to be built, it should only cover that area and not the central part of the beach.
Recently IACM cleaned part of the construction waste, and we can now see the result of the works that obstructed the beach views for such a long time. It’s useless (what’s there to protect behind the beach in the unlikely case the sea advances during a storm?) and awfully ugly. They built a concrete wall all along the seashore without any consideration for the natural landscape. It’s a pity that the only large beach in Macau has been treated this way.
Only in poor areas (like in some parts of the Philippines and Brazil) and in neighboring Hong Kong (go to Cheung Chau and check for yourself) have I seen the coastline being so despised.

 

Many questions arise. For example, why is the government wasting so many millions paying a contractor to carry out such a project? Not to mention the disturbance caused by the construction works. Despite having said that the development would performed in phases in order to minimize “the disturbance caused to residents and tourists” (see the full report on this on this webpage: http://www.jtm.com.mo/view.asp?dT=378703001), the machines were particularly active during the summertime.
What’s more, there was even a serious accident that affected an eight-year-old boy. In the beginning of September, Thomas Lawson was walking on the beach when he stepped on a metal rod hidden in the sand. The boy was impaled on the pole as it went through his foot and into his leg. He was rushed to San Januário Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
The young man is still recovering from his injuries. His family argues that the metal rod was part of the waste material left behind on the beach after the demolition of the old structures whilst the new seawall was being erected at Hac Sa. According to Thomas’ father, Keith Lawson, the day after the accident “the area was ‘roped off’ by either the police or the IACM,” and the waste material on the beach was removed. In a report published by the Times, Mr Lawson said he planed to take advice from a lawyer on the legal issues and responsibility involved in this case. “The government must do something about it so that no one else is hurt”, he mentioned. In fact the authority should also be first in line to defend the natural landscape and uphold good taste and professionalism.

(my column in MDT)

O Programa do Aleixo em nova série.Muito bom)

THE PSY scandal: singing about killing people v. constantly doing it

Americans would benefit from less outrage at anti-US sentiment and more energy toward understanding why it's so widespread (in Guardian)

"JAZZ is about freedom within discipline. Many people don't understand how disciplined you have to be to play jazz... And that is really the idea of democracy — freedom within the Constitution or discipline. You don't just get out there and do anything you want."
Dave Brubeck (RIP)

JIM Morrison would have been 69 today. Here his late father explains why the family decided to write the greek motto KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY (True to his own spirit) on his gravestone.

UMA cómica análise do secessionismo norte-americano feita no LA Times. Parece que há uns texanos que querem sair da união. 

Cassete com dois t