Ditto #642

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

--Henri Matisse

Parece que estou a ouvir #543

Did she mention my name

by Gordon Lightfoot

It's so nice to meet an old friend and pass the time of day

And talk about the hometown a million miles away

Is the ice still in the river? Are the old folks still the same?

And by the way, did she mention my name?

Did she mention my name just in passing?

And when the morning came, 

do you remember if she dropped a name or two?

Is the home team still on fire? Do they still win all the games?

And by the way, did she mention my name?

Is the landlord still a loser? Do his signs hang in the hall?

Are the young girls still as pretty in the city in the fall?

Does the laughter on their faces still put the sun to shame?

And by the way, did she mention my name?

Did she mention my name just in passing?

And when the talk ran high, did the look in her eye seem far away?

Is the old roof still leaking when the late snow turns to rain?

And by the way, did she mention my name?

Did she mention my name just in passing?

And looking at the rain, 

do you remember if she dropped a name or two?

Won't you say hello from someone? They'll be no need to explain

And by the way, did she mention my name?

Palavras lidas #654

The Wish to Be Generous
by Wendell Berry*

All that I serve will die, all my delights,
the flesh kindled from my flesh, garden and field,
the silent lilies standing in the woods,
the woods, the hill, the whole earth, all
will burn in man’s evil, or dwindle
in its own age. Let the world bring on me
the sleep of darkness without stars, so I may know
my little light taken from me into the seed
of the beginning and the end, so I may bow
to mystery, and take my stand on the earth
like a tree in a field, passing without haste
or regret toward what will be, my life
a patient willing descent into the grass.

____________

*Wendell Berry 5-Aug-1943 -- 31-Aug-2026

Numa sala perto de mim #472

Pride and Prejudice (2005)... what a pleasure to rewatch, even if on a transatlantic flight! 21 years ago when the movie came out, I was lucky to get tickets to a sneak preview in Boston, which was followed by a brief Q&A with film director Joe Wright. What an ecstatic experience!! 

Numa sala perto de mim #471

Rental Family (2025) is set in Japan, the country where everything is seemingly transactional... but is it? The movie explores the art of human interaction and the corresponding separation of feelings... some times more successful than others. Invites further thought!

No Times de hoje #195

Ratko Mladic. Another one bites the dust... in captivity. Mladic is the third one gone in the group of 4 individuals indicted for crimes against humanity in the Balkan's War of the 1990s. Still awaiting the destiny of us all is Radovan Karadzic, who is apparently serving a life sentence in one of His Majesty's Prison Service's facilities in the Isle of Wight. May he live a long long life.

Parece que estou a ouvir #542

Dolly Parton 1946-2026

Jolene

by Dolly Parton

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm beggin' of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene

He talks about you in his sleep
And there's nothin' I can do to keep
From cryin' when he calls your name, Jolene
And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me, Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm beggin' of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

You could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
He's the only one for me, Jolene
I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm beggin' of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can
Jolene, Jolene

Parece que estou a ouvir #541

We'll live and die in these towns*
The Enemy

You spend your time in smoky rooms
Where haggled old women with cheap perfume say
"It never happens for people like us, you know"
Well, nothing ever happened on its own

And well, the toilets smells of desperation
The streets all echo of aggravation
And you wonder why you can't get no sleep
When you got nothing to do, and you had nothing to eat
Your life's slipping and sliding right out of view
And there's absolutely nothing that you can do, well

We'll live and die, we'll live and die in these towns
Don't let it drag you down, don't let it drag you down now
We'll live and die, we'll live and die in these towns
Don't let it drag you down, don't let it drag you down now

Dirty dishes from a TV meal
That went cold from the wind through a smashed up window
You can't go out if anybody calls you
'Cause you can't have a bath when there's no hot water

And your friends are out on the town again
And you ask yourself if it will ever end
And it's all too much for your head to take
Just a matter of time before you break, well

We'll live and die, we'll live and die in these towns
Don't let it drag you down, don't let it drag you down now
We'll live and die, we'll live and die in these towns
Don't let it drag you down, don't let it drag you down now

Oh, now
Oh, now

We'll live and die, we'll live and die in these towns
Don't let it drag you down, don't let it drag you down now
We'll live and die, we'll live and die in these towns
Don't let it drag you down, don't let it drag you down now

_____________

*On before the start of every Coventry City home game, with the entire stadium singing loudly... all of it!

Espantos #726

Projecções caseiras do eclipse

Caprichos #529

Nivá. A descoberta deste verão!

Espantos #725

Árvores do Príncipe Real

Retirado do contexto #458

Jantar

com vista!

Caprichos #528

Num dia de calor, antes groselha!

Parece que estou a ouvir #540

Luís Represas... saudade

Saudade

Trovante

Há sempre alguém que nos diz tem cuidado
Há sempre alguém que nos faz pensar um pouco
Há sempre alguém que nos faz falta
Ahhh, saudade

Há sempre alguém que nos diz tem cuidado
Há sempre alguém que nos faz pensar um pouco
Há sempre alguém que nos faz falta
Ahhh, saudade

Chegou hoje no correio a notícia
É preciso avisar por esses povos
Que turbulências e ventos se aproximam
Ahhh, cuidado

Há sempre alguém que nos diz tem cuidado
Há sempre alguém que nos faz pensar um pouco
Há sempre alguém que nos faz falta
Ahhh saudade

Há sempre alguém que nos diz tem cuidado
Há sempre alguém que nos faz pensar um pouco
Há sempre alguém que nos faz falta
Ahhh, saudade

Foi chão que deu uvas, alguém disse
Mas porém colhe-se o trigo, faz-se o pão
E se ouvimos os contos de um tinto velho
Ahhh, bebemos à saudade

Há sempre alguém que nos diz tem cuidado
Há sempre alguém que nos faz pensar um pouco
Há sempre alguém que nos faz falta
Ahhh, saudade

E vem o dia em que dobramos os nossos cabos
Da Roca a São Vicente em Boa Esperança
E de poder vaguear com as ondas
Ahhh, saudades do futuro

Há sempre alguém que nos diz tem cuidado
Há sempre alguém que nos faz pensar um pouco
Há sempre alguém que nos faz falta
Ahhh, saudade

Parece que estou a ouvir #539

Luís Represas (1956-2016) outro grande belenense!

Memórias de um beijo

Trovante, Terram Firme, 1987

Lembras-me uma marcha de Lisboa
Num desfile singular
Quem disse
Que há hora e momento p'ra se amar?

Lembras-me uma enchente de maré
Com a calma matinal
Quem foi, quem disse
Que o mar dos olhos também sabe a sal

As memórias são como livros escondidos no pó
As lembranças são 

Os sorrisos que queremos rever 

Devagar

Queria viver tudo numa noite
Sem perder a procurar
O tempo ou espaço
Que é indiferente p'ra poder sonhar

As memórias são como livros escondidos no pó
As lembranças são 

Os sorrisos que queremos rever 

Devagar

Quem foi que provocou vontades,
E atiçou as tempestades,
E amarrou o barco ao cais?

Quem foi que matou o desejo,
E arrancou um lábio ao beijo,
E amainou os vendavais?

As memórias são 

Como livros escondidos no pó
As lembranças são 

Os sorrisos que queremos rever 

Devagar
Devagar

Palavras lidas #653

Nasce o sol e não dura mais que um dia
Gegório de Matos

Nasce o Sol, e não dura mais que um dia,
Depois da Luz se segue a noite escura,
Em tristes sombras morre a formosura,
Em contínuas tristezas a alegria.

Porém se acaba o Sol, por que nascia?
Se formosa a Luz é, por que não dura?
Como a beleza assim se transfigura?
Como o gosto da pena assim se fia?

Mas, no Sol, e na Luz, falte a firmeza,
Na formosura não se dê constância,
E na alegria sinta-se tristeza.

Começa o mundo enfim pela ignorância,
E tem qualquer dos bens por natureza
A firmeza somente na inconstância.

Coisas que mudaram #47

Poesia pelo metro de Lisboa este verão

Retirado do contexto #457

Batente

Espantos #724

Quando a Ryanair não voa mais para os Açores...

... continua a publicitar os Açores e a dar negócio a outros.

Coisas bonitas #252

Borboletas

Sem título #400

Priorities!

Palavras lidas #652

Outgrown
Penelope Shuttle

It is both sad and a relief to fold so carefully
her outgrown clothes and line up the little worn shoes
of childhood, so prudent, scuffed and particular.
It is both happy and horrible to send them galloping
back tappity-tap along the misty chill path into the past.

It is both a freedom and a prison, to be outgrown
by her as she towers over me as thin as a sequin
in her doc martens and her pretty skirt,
because just as I work out how to be a mother
she stops being a child.

Sem título #399

Que às vezes dá vontade...

Parece que estou a ouvir #538

Cantar de Emigração
Adriano Correia de Oliveira (música)

Rosalía de Castro (poema)

Este parte, aquele parte
e todos, todos se vão.
Galiza ficas sem homens
que possam cortar teu pão.

Tens em troca órfãos e órfãs
Tens campos de solidão.
Tens mães que não têm filhos
Filhos que não têm pai.

Coração que tens e sofre
Longas ausências mortais.
Viúvas de vivos mortos
Que ninguém consolará.

Este parte, aquele parte
E todos, todos se vão.
Galiza ficas sem homens
Que possam cortar teu pão.

Coisas bonitas #251

Black cat drinking water from black cat bowl

Palavras lidas #651

A Velhice
by Rolf Jacobsen (trad. Amadeu Baptista)

Agradam-me os mais velhos.
Sentam-se por ai e olham-nos e não nos veem
e sempre metidos em si,
como os pescadores nas ribeiras dos grandes rios, imóveis como pedras
sob a noite estival.
Agradam-me muito os pescadores nas ribeiras dos rios e os velhos e os que saem à rua após uma longa enfermidade.

Têm algo nos olhos
que o mundo já não vê,
os velhos, como convalescentes
cujos pés ainda não são suficientemente fortes e seguros
e com a face pálida e anteriormente febril.

Os velhos
que voltam a ser eles mesmos lentamente
e se dissolvem lentamente,
como o fumo, e imperceptivelmente se transformam
em sonho
e luz.

Ditto #642

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.

--English proverb

Numa sala perto de mim #470

A Private Life (2025) shows Jodie Foster speaking in French! She is a (control freak) psychiatrist with a recently deceased patient, turns into investigating the facts behind such sudden death and finding more than she wished to know about herself and others... some truths, some fantasised realities but in the end, some balance.

Retirado do contexto #456

Baby seagull ventures alone on campus... what to do?

The answer is: do nothing

Sem título #398

I get that too :-)

Parece que estou a ouvir #537

Another Day

Paul McCartney

Every day she takes a morning bath, she wets her hair
Wraps a towel around her as she's heading for the bedroom chair
It's just another day

Slipping into stockings, stepping into shoes
Dipping in the pocket of her raincoat
It's just another day

At the office where the papers grow she takes a break
Drinks another coffee and she finds it hard to stay awake
It's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day, hey

So sad, so sad, sometimes she feels so sad
Alone in her apartment she'd dwell
Till the man of her dreams comes to break the spell
Ah, stay, don't stand her up
And he comes and he stays, but he leaves the next day
So sad, sometimes she feels so sad

As she posts another letter to the sound of five
People gather 'round her and she finds it hard to stay alive
It's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day, hey

So sad, so sad, sometimes she feels so sad
Alone in her apartment she'd dwell
Till the man of her dreams comes to break the spell
Ah, stay, don't stand her up
And he comes and he stays, but he leaves the next day
So sad, sometimes she feels so sad

Every day she takes a morning bath, she wets her hair
Wraps a towel around her as she's heading for the bedroom chair
It's just another day

Slipping into stockings, stepping into shoes
Dipping in the pocket of her raincoat
Ah, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day, hey

Coisas bonitas #250

I attended a beautiful British citizenship ceremony where tolerance and respect for others were proclaimed, respect for democratic values was defended, and contributions to a more prosperous, generous open nation were wished. These noble British values should be taught in schools.

Verão #32

Girassóis na onda de calor!

Espantos #723

Scorching heatwave in the Midlands... 8.01pm!!

Sem título #397

Our wonderful Exams Team... mesmerised by Rolf!

Espantos #722

Alguém está a gostar mesmo muito

desta onda de calor no reino Unido!

Palavras lidas #650

The Disappearing
by Franz Wright

There is a heartbreaking beauty
about my crummy street
tonight, at 2 o’clock
in the first snow: I stand looking out

at this window, I think
how everything seen
is something seen for the last time.
At last I turn away,

I give up. I am tired,
I can’t mourn anymore
the loss of what I never asked for
and never understood.

_______________

In the middle of the latest sweltering heatwave in the UK I caught myself thinking of snow...

Numa sala perto de mim #469

Office Romance (2026) is a fun rom-com with an unconventional power relationship in an office where relationships are strictly prohibited. Of course the situation changes and you just feel sorry for the HR guy who needs to listen to everything he didn't want to hear :-D

Jennifer Lopez does not look 55!

Caprichos #527

Cheesecake com morango

Caprichos #526

Gelatina de morango

com morangos!

Foi neste dia #395 (1665)

Há 361 anos perto de Borba, deu-se a decisiva Batalha dos Montes Claros, a última grande batalha da Guerra da Restauração Portuguesa que durava há já 25 anos. A pesada derrota espanhola às mãos de forças anglo-portuguesas derrubou definitivamente qualquer pertença de invasão e deu início ao processo de reconhecimento da dinastia de Bragança, finalizado no Tratado de Lisboa em 1668.

Parece que estou a ouvir #536

Kingston town

UB40

The night seems to fade
But the moonlight lingers on
There are wonders for everyone, oh
The stars shine so bright
But they're fading after dawn
There is magic in Kingston Town

Oh, Kingston Town
The place I long to be
If I had the whole world
I would give it away
Just to see the girls at play

When I am king
Surely I would need a queen
And a palace and everything, yeah
And now I am king
And my queen will come at dawn
She'll be waiting in Kingston Town

Oh, Kingston Town
The place I long to be
If I had the whole world
I would give it away
Just to see the girls at play, yeah

When I am king
Surely I would need a queen
And a palace and everything, yeah
And now I am king
And my queen will come at dawn
She'll be waiting in Kingston Town

She'll be waiting in Kingston Town, right on
She'll be waiting in Kingston Town, oh, yeah
She'll be waiting in Kingston Town, oh, yeah
She'll be waiting-

Retirado do contexto #455

Jantar fora