Visa should pay me for this... but I'll post it anyway coz it's good fun!

Untitled II

Sorry that I abandoned this place for the last few days. I’ve been busy, but I shall gradually get back to my writing here. However, I’ve been so out of ideas that I cannot even come up with new titles! Hence the above and the bellow. It’s just that there’s lot going on, so I just feel… tired. One thing I can say though is that the thing I mentioned on my post on the 9^th of September went better than fine! Yay to me! Hehehe! For now, to cheer myself and you casual readers up, I’ll just leave you with a video from one of my favorite bands, The Pixies. This is not a song of their own, but still a great cover. See you all later.

Untitled 1

Good evening to you all. Tomorrow is an important day for me. It’s not that relevant to reveal why here, even because I think that the few readers of this blog already now the reason. Hopefully next time I post I’ll have a feeling of “mission accomplished”. For now, I’ll only say this (which is related to tomorrow): watch Monty Python’s stuff - the films, the musical or the series! It will put a smile on your faces, to say the least. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite sketches from Flying Circus: the one about the SPANISH INQUISITION! Good night!

More on food

After yesterday’s mouthwatering post, I decided to talk a bit about my likes and dislikes when it comes to gastronomy. First, I need to say I miss proper Brazilian cuisine. A lot! Even silly things that I simply cannot find here, such as chilled “água-de-côco”, to drink on the beach on the coconut itself, or in jars at restaurants. So whenever I’m home, I gain some weight from overeating what I missed out on the rest of the year.

There are certain things I don’t like much: still can’t put up with onions (though I know that they are essential to some dishes), I won’t eat too exotic meat (rabbit, for example, which is actually quite popular in Spain, but no way I’ll eat it), and I’m not that into too spicy foods. It’s too much for my tongue and stomach (which is by nature very delicate). I think it’s great that some people know what spices go on well with what, but what seems a bit too much for me is overusing chili, for instance, and then missing out completely the original taste of the food. It’s funny because I live with Mexicans, and while in one hand they complain that the chicken here “tastes like nothing”, on the other hand they don’t like the strong flavor of Roquefort cheese, which I love.

One good thing about living in Europe is that you learn more about international cuisines just by osmosis, especially in the UK, since they have restaurants from all over the world. I found out there that I do really like Mediterranean food, and also from the east side of the sea – the Greek cuisine is so rich and tasty, for instance! I also started enjoying foods that I didn’t back home (out of prejudice or laziness) such as Japanese food.

Another subject is the issue of dietary restrictions: I believe there are delicious vegetarian dishes out there, but I don’t think I could commit to it. I’m not that into meat, but every now and then I would like to enjoy a barbeque, for instance. As for veganism, how could I survive without cheese? I just love it! I know that behind it all there’s the issue of the way animals are treated. I wished I could afford to eat only organic meat, milk, fruits and vegetables, but so far it is just too expensive. Hopefully the agro-industrial companies will manage in the future to change this situation – for the sake of our planet and of us! Then, there are people who are allergic or have other restrictions, such as people who cannot eat gluten. Those have a hard-time, especially in places like Brazil, which is a shame. People tend to look at then as if they didn’t want to eat anything because they are picky, when actually there are cases of people with so severe allergies that they can even die by just accidentally touching a certain food.

About cooking: I enjoy cooking, as long as it isn’t just for me and that it isn’t everyday. Perhaps whenever I have children I’ll have the right stimulus and time to cook more often. It’s just that it’s even a bit depressing to spend at least one hour cooking a nice meal and then eating by yourself in ten minutes. Then you have all that food accumulated that either gets spoilt or too repetitive. So I confess that frozen and ready meals are a bit of a solution, a not very healthy and tasteless one though. I love watching cooking TV shows. I only wished I could afford more and did things better… I probably would if I had been stimulated to cook from my childhood. But, no regrets… I have my lifetime to learn how to make del dishes and hopefully share them with more people. For now, I take the chance that Barcelona has a good amount of nice restaurants and go on trying new things.

Mangiare!

Italy is definitely one of the best tourist destinations of the world – landscapes, arts and history, make your choice: the boot-shaped country offers everything. I don’t know if living there would actually be that nice, considering the news we hear, in terms of politics, job offers and the treatment foreigners receive… however, I’m pretty sure that for as long as it is possible, Italy will carry on being a holiday hotspot.

But oh, I digress! What I want to talk about is their fooood! Delicious! The pasta properly made tastes so much better! The ice-cream is just so… creamy! The coffee is something else – of course it doesn’t grow there, it’s about the way they make it. A true macchiato is an experience for the senses! And the pizza, Dio mio, che pizza! I will elaborate here because pizza is indeed one of my favorite dishes ever: it’s the simple combination of the cheese, the base and the toppings that do the magic.

Unlike most people think, pizza shouldn’t be that fattening of a dish – again, it depends on the way it is made and on the toppings. The bad thing about eating a proper Italian “mamma-mia” made pizza is that afterwards no other pizza is good enough anymore! It’s all about the simple way they hand make and shape the base, that once ready just remains thin, soft and tender – not that way too thick or crunchy thingy they generally sell elsewhere: those are actually just bread and crackers, in my opinion. Then, there is the fresh made tomato sauce, not just some canned artificial stuff. Add up the proper grated mozzarella and some traditional toppings (chocolate pizza?! Italians would probably faint just by hearing that). Last but not least: you bake it on a wood-fire oven. The result comes in a big individual portion, rather than having a “family sized” one to slice.

It all sounds like a complicated (and hence, expensive) process, but for instance, in a city like Genoa you can find a nice and filling margherita for about 3 € on corner pizzerias. After all, in its origins pizza was a dish made by and for the poor.

It has some nutrition values: it gives the carbohydrates from the base, and the cheese, if consumed with moderation, is also a nutritious element. Then there is a world of healthy toppings to choose from as well. I don’t like to complicate it a lot, so anchovies and capers are enough for me.

Lucky me that in Barcelona I can find a “proper” Italian place: Bella Napoli. Once/if I move somewhere else, I will be longing to go back to Italy more often – and God only knows if I’ll be able to afford it! Or maybe I’ll just open a pizza place myself and hire some proper napoletani to do the job!

For now, I’ll leave you with a video I found of Bella Napoli.

What Kate did

Kate Moss is a polemic public character. Anorexic, cokehead, she has been called names all her life. I don’t want to play devil’s advocate, and I don’t condone at all anorexia, nor drug addictions. Nonetheless, I don’t condone judging people, especially people you only “know” from the media.

When those snorting photos were on the covers of the tabloids, many people thought it would be the end of her long-lived modeling career. She did loose some contracts: I remember passing in front of Knightsbridge’s Burberry store just days after the scandal and they were taking down the massive outdoor photograph they had of her. However, some while and a rehab later, Kate was back in biz. A lot of people argued that one of the reasons for that was that it would have been hypocritical from the fashion professionals to just stop hiring such a known model for taking drugs. Since in the jet set world drug taking doesn’t seem to be a very uncommon thing, it would really have been hypocritical to just throw Kate to the bin because of that.

Personally, I am not that into fashion, and I don’t like the whole gossip media world either. I wouldn’t ever say that Kate Moss is my idol, but as someone who’s been misunderstood quite a few times in life, I would like to say a few of good things about her:

1- I think she does try to be a good mother to her daughter Lila Grace.

2- Perhaps she just has a skinny physique, I don’t think she makes that much effort to be slim, so maybe she really isn’t anorexic.

3- She has a very unique kind of beauty, which I think is important in the world of fashion. I mean, she has a funny nose, she doesn’t have much breasts, she isn’t as tall as the other models, she’s very angular and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think she’s even a bit cross-eyed. When she became famous, in the 90’s, she was known for being very different than the other models such as Claudia Schiffer (who I never thought that much of) or Linda Evangelista (to me, she looks like a horse). So Kate used to dress like a crazy teenager back then (which she was), but then, within the years, knowing herself and maturing, she mastered her style, and hell, does the woman dress well! Sarah Jessica Parker? Victoria Beckham? Oh please, they are desperate for attention bimbos! Kate is the one who does it well, even when it comes to designing clothes, like she did for Topshop.

4- She has an exquisite musical taste too. She even tried to sing a few times (not her forte, I agree with the critics), but taking into consideration the people she hangs out with, the places she goes to, and other projects of hers such as music videos (with people like Johnny Cash and The White Stripes), Kate has done more to music than the first lady of France (let’s not even start with that woman!).

5- To finish off with a comic relief: I know she went out with Peter Doherty, and that was a sick romance from day one. But the woman also went out with JOHNNY DEPP! ONE’S GOTTA RESPECT THAT! They were together for about 3 years, I think, and apparently even got engaged, so it was not just a summer love. I only wished I could say the same…

"What are you looking at?"

One feisty lady

One of the good aspects of living in Barcelona is the vast offer for good international gigs. I have been to some so far, though unfortunately I must say I missed some good ones simply because I couldn’t afford to go. I shall discuss some of the concerts I have been to in this blog, and today I will talk about the time I went to see the Canadian singer/song writer Leslie Feist.
Mostly known by her last name (and hence, the pun at the title), Feist is a breath of fresh air at today’s music industry, and her live performances confirm that even more: she really sings and plays, she’s got a great band to support her and she interacts well with the audience. She also adds up cool elements to her performance, such as some sort of shadows show: she has a couple of artists on the back of the stage playing around with lights and shades, paintings and colours, and using other devices that make the best side dish (for the lack of a better way to describe it) to her songs. And the songs are indeed the main dish! Feist has a beautiful, bittersweet and distinctive voice (though not very potent), that goes along perfectly with her melodies, which range from pop-girlish (such as in the case of One Evening) to a more rock-rhythm-aggressive (like in When I was a young girl).
Talking about other aspects of her career, her videos are generally very creative and involve a lot of fun dancing. It is the case of My Moon, My Man (to me, one of the best music videos ever made) and 1, 2, 3, 4. This last one became very popular because it was featured at an advert for IPod. Some criticism towards Feist is due to the fact that she sold the rights of some of her music to corporations like Apple and Lacoste. (Supposed) politics aside, even if Feist is accused of not being a real “indie” artist rather then just being another pop queen in disguise, that doesn’t take the merits of her music. As a matter of fact, I wished people like Madonna were doing for pop music what Feist is doing now. So what if she is one of the best riff makers of the world nowadays and that makes her a good musical source for the world of publicity? She is still a true artist, who writes and performs her own material with a lot of passion. She also seems to be a well fine and stylish lady, which are not necessarily bad things to say about anyone.
To finish off, one example of her music (you can find some more at YouTube), Sealion: she makes at the same time a remake, a homage and something new out of a Nina Simone song. This performance was for the infamous Jools Holland show, at the same day Radiohead, Dionne Warwirck and Mary J. Blige were also there (what I mix!). You can see Thom Yorke and Mary clapping along the song.

Coisas estranhas costumam acontecer comigo – mais ainda na Espanha

I
Um dia, meu celular toca e o seguinte diálogo se dá:
Eu: - Alô.
Mulher: - Quem é você?
Eu (ainda tentando ser educada): - Para quem você ligou?
Mulher: - Você conhece o Jorge?
Eu (pensando, “quem é Jorge?”): - Não conheço nenhum Jorge.
Mulher: - É que o seu número estava aqui no celular dele...
Eu: - Pode ter sido algum engano...
Mulher: - Não há engano nenhum!
Eu: -...
Mulher: - Escuta o que eu vou lhe dizer: fica longe do Jorge! Fica longe do meu marido!
Eu (agora com raiva mesmo): - Senhora, eu não conheço o seu marido, nem tenho interesse em nenhum homem casado!
Mulher: - Isso é o que todas dizem.
E bate o telefone na minha cara. Pelo menos nunca mais recebi ligações da louca. Acho que o tal de Jorge deve ter aprendido a se comportar.

II
Andando pelo centro de Barcelona, se aproxima de mim um efusivo grupo de gays rechonchudos. Um deles, provavelmente tentando me provocar, vira para mim e grita:
- ¡QUEREMOS POLLA!
No que eu respondo:
- ¡Yo también!
E eles caem na gargalhada, enquanto eu desço as escadas para pegar o metrô.

III
Voltando para casa do meu ex-trabalho, num domingo, quase ninguém na rua, me deparo com um senhor estranho, porém simpático, a quem eu jamais havia visto antes na minha vida. Ele me para e diz:
Señor: - Oi! Você quer pão?
Eu (surpresa): - Não, obrigada.
Señor: - É porque eu tenho sobrando.
Eu (tentando dialogar racionalmente com o doido): Mas é que eu já tenho pão em casa...
Señor: - Então leva para os seus amigos.
Eu: - Mas é que eles também já têm pão...
O senhor faz uma cara de triste, como que chateado porque não pôde repartir seu pão.
Eu: - Mas muito obrigada!
E vou embora!

***
Realmente, às vezes a vida é mais estranha que a ficção. Mas o bom é que depois eu rio relembrando desses acontecimentos pitorescos!

The truth upside down is (nearly) the truth as it is

Not to patronize anyone, but basically, mockumentaries are fake documentaries: they present themselves to the public as if they were the real thing, but they are all set ups, and mostly with the intention of making fun of the “realness” of the doc genre. The irony is that by doing that, they manage somehow to show reality in way that the real documentaries could never do. Examples of movies like that are Borat and This is Spinal Tap.

One of the best mockumentaries ever made is certainly Woody Allen’s Zelig (1983). It tells the very unrealistic, yet moving, tale of a “chameleon man” named Leonard Zelig. He suffered from a condition that allowed him to “adapt” to whatever circumstances he was facing, not only psychologically, but also physically. For instance, if he was amongst Native Americans, he would not only behave like them, but he would also look like them. The idea itself is very creative and original, but Allen goes beyond that and constructs a narrative that is both funny and cohesive, making Zelig one of his best films ever.

What is reality anyway? Isn’t it always a construction, either in our minds or fabricated by the Media? Even journalism, for example, that sells itself as if it was reality as it is, is actually always some sort of set up: choosing what to talk about, how to talk about it, how to edit, or even just by choosing where to focus the camera on, is already building up a certain way to see the world accordingly to specific interests. Mockumentaries, especially in cases like Zelig, turn the realistic order upside down, and by doing that they are able to show the other side of the coin.

It is true that Allen has had many ups and downs in his prolific career, but Zelig surely counts as one of his highest moments. He mixes archive footages, fake interviews and well acted misé-en-scenes that along with a very credible voice-over narration turn the unbelievable story into a commentary about the History of the World in the early twentieth century. It features Psychoanalysis, the Nazi regime, silly songs and dances about the human chameleon and even testimonies of people like Susan Sontag. The film manages to entertain and make us think at the same time. At the end, we are all a bit like Zelig, as Zelig has a bit of all of us.

To finish off, I’ll leave you with a very real picture from the day when there was only a glass wall between Woody and me.