Monday, April 26, 2010

I was away for the weekend. Went to beautiful Serra da Estrela. When I got back, Melissa had a surprise for me. Her 1st flower...

Friday, April 23, 2010

Her name is Melissa...

This an orchid that I named Melissa because when we first met, I was interested in a songwriter that I encounter in San Francisco and her name is Melissa Rapp. I thought this beautiful orchid should have the name of someone I see as a beautiful dreamer. Melissa is awakening to Spring, getting all her strength focused in blooming, and that is one very special thing to notice everyday. So today I though I could start posting some photos of that energy. Here’re the 1st pictures…

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Amigos na internet? Aí uns 150...

“Depois de analisar outras espécies, como os símios, Dunbar defende que o nosso cérebro não nos permite administrar emocionalmente mais de 150 amizades. (...) poe em causa os coleccionadores de amigos. Pensa que a acumulação de supostos amigos obedece apenas a uma ânsia exibicionista. A dimensão de uma rede social chega a ser valorizada nos currículos profissionais, supostamente sinal de grande sociabilidade.. (...)
Para avaliar uma amizade é preciso conhecer até que grau de compromisso se está disposto ir. Podemos acumular muitos contactos, mas, quando precisamos de apoio e esse apoio envolve custos, podemos descobrir que, afinal, estamos sós”

- Robin Dunbar, autor de “How many friends does one person need?”
Le Courier Internacinal, excerto de El País.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Raw beauty...

Life in Haiti-Canon 5D MKII & Glidetrack from Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

A violinist in the metro...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. . . .

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experiment could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

You can also listen to a brief clip from Josh’s subway concert:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?referrer=emailarticle

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Dream kitchen...

"No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary"

Which means that a murder victim was killed by someone known to them and fairies are made out of paper and you can't talk with someone who is dead

- Mark Haddon "The curious incident..."

Tuesday, April 6, 2010



Perdemos o medo, ganhamos amigos, abrimo-nos à aventura da vida.
Nascidos de uma estrela-semente, à muito que perdemos o nosso rasto,
mas no coração vivem as memórias do que é para cada um de nós verdadeiramente importante.

Bons farejos e intuições certeiras ; )

Saturday, April 3, 2010


Florence and the Machine "DOG DAYS ARE OVER" Music Video from LEGS MEDIA on Vimeo.

"Florence is the shamanic leader of a surreal orchestra where spiritual elation explodes into smokey psychedelic anarchy. Each musical element of the song is personified by a group of colorful characters that combine 60’s girl groups, Hinduism, gospel choirs, drum circles, paganism and pyrotechnics. Florence is a painted primal force of nature that whips a religious experience into a riot." LEGS

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Early this morning I went to Pasteis de Belem, one of the "yummiest" places in Lisbon. Coming from nowhere a stranger looked at me and told that I had a nice smile. I smilled back and said thank you. Then he said he had a gift for me, and out of the bloom, badabim badaboom, he gave me 1,000,000€!!! yeah, yeah, Happy Fools Day! Peta rabeta fechada na gaveta!!!