Going to the theater

As I mentioned in our last class I was thinking we could all go to the theater to see Shakespeare's " Winter's Tale" : I suggest the 14th or the 15 th. Please let me know as soon as possible to book the tickets. It's by THE LISBON PLAYERS, you can check who they are here : http://www.lisbonplayers.com.pt/


The price of the tickets is € 7,20.
ESTRELA HALL is here:





You can find more about the play here:
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/winterstale/

Reviews II (Tennessee Willlam's "Suddenly Last Summer")

Follow the link and listen to the review on Tennessee Wiliams's play: "Suddenly Last Summer" http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2006/11/22/27theaterupdate.mp3
Decide whether the review is positive or negative and explain why using expressions from the audio.
Link on Tennessee Williams:
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc9.htm

Link to Suddenly Last Summer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suddenly,_Last_Summer

Tea with the Birds

It was a cold, yet pleasant autumnal evening. The morning dew had already dried by the time he returned home. It had been an exhausting day of work, just like many others, and suddenly he stumbled – his first thought was to grasp the banister before he fell. He then sat on one of the steps, and clung to old memories, as he tried to fight back the dizziness.

Inside the house, a melodic voice could be heard. "This is odd, to say the least" – he thought. He hadn’t heard the canary sing since last summer. “Seldom do these birds sing in the middle of autumn”. Turning the knob, he opened the door and his dog was the first to enter the house – “Yeah, I know, dogs first” – he whispered, smiling. As the years passed by, he grew used to the animal's antics. When the door closed behind him, he called his four-legged friend. He didn’t come, though. He started looking for him. After he entered the kitchen, there he was, staring at the singing bird. Strangely enough, the yellow creature didn't stop singing, as if he didn’t mind the dog. In fact, his voice echoed louder and louder. “Well, I guess I have no other choice. Sing away, my friend.” He bribed the dog with a cookie in order to take him back to the garden. Delightful as its voice was, he wouldn't have minded to continue listening to the bird, but when he poured some tea into a cup, he stopped; and that second felt like a glass shattering. Then the little one began chirping, perhaps trying to ask for something. “Do you want tea?” Now that was weird, after all those years taking care of his pets, he’d never thought he would one day feed one of the birds on tea. He approached the white cage carefully trying not to scare the canaries, and filled one of the water containers with tea. “There you have it.” Much to his surprise, both birds started to drink it. “That’s what you can call, having Tea with the Birds”.

Model: one of my birds.
Photo: taken and edited by me - PSP X (Yeah, kind of small, but the cage wasn't the subject so I had to remove it.)
See you soon!

David Ildefonso

Reviews I ("Doll's House" Ibsen)

Please follow this link and read a theater review on Ibsen's play "Doll's House"-by NY Times critic Charles Isherwood.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/theater/reviews/11nora.html?ex=1165899600&en=a3e34ba3cc57d9a4&ei=5087

Link to "A Doll's House":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll%27s_House

A Tribute to Freddie Mercury

My profile

Hello! I finally understood how the blog works, and now I can enjoy it by posting my little text about myself. My full name is Luis Francisco Eustaquio Pires, allthough I prefer being treated as "Eustaquio". I'm 18 years old and I'm now a student of the translation course. I came to FCSH because it was my second option, but I like it here, I met new people and also saw faces I'd never thought I would. I don't know how much I can say about myself...of course I like the usual: going out, being with my friends, listening to my music (and playing it). I play the drums, guitar, bass and I try to give away some notes on the piano (not that I try real hard). I love cinema and music...my whole life is based on that...and Superman :P when I grow up, I want to be a Mr. Clark Kent.

P.S.: Punk rock music and Superman rule!

November grammar sheet

Hi all,

This is the grammar sheet for November.

I don't know if you noticed, but on the blog you can now see the link to the Gutenberg Project site, where you can download books for free.

Miguel's Profile

Hi there, I'm the guy who fell into your class at the middle of the semester.
My name is Miguel Silva, I'm 22 years old and I was born and raised in Barreiro. This is my second attempt at studying in a University, at first I was studying biology in FCUL but, unfortunately, it had a lot of mathematics and I'm not very good at mathematics (alright I admit it, I'm really lousy at mathematics).
Well, about my hobbies, I love music, I go a lot to live concerts, just last week I went to a Tool concert, it was really really good, it's an amazing audiovisual experience. I also love Iron Maiden, Disturbed, Soil, Cradle of Filth, I could spend the whole day naming bands I like but we don't have the time or the space for it, do we?! Anyway, continuing with my hobbies, I also love to watch anime (Japanese animation) and I read a lot, especially fantasy novels. Right now I'm also taking a Japanese language and culture class at FSCH, I'm currently in my third year , so now I can actually say coherent phrases and not just gibberish that I would catch in the movies or in the anime.
Since I arrived later in the semester I practically don't know anyone in the class, I just hope we can all be friends :)

So to all of you I say "Yoroshiku onegai shimasu" (Pleasure to meet you)

P.S. Yeah, that's me on the photo, I just didn't have long hair and the goatee

Nature

When dealing with such a sweeping issue such as “Nature" we can not possibly forget the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we put on the table. Everyone should be aware of the fact that preserving our natural habitat is a matter of the utmost concern.
It seems that modern man’s actions resulted in lots of side effects that put our nature in jeopardy. The excessive number of automobiles, deforestations, the rests from factories led to pollution. Consequently, pollution generated another negative effect that endangers our life: the greenhouse effect and acid rains. Thus, everyone should bear in mind that our life is at stake if we do not protect environment.
I for one consider that the power of nature is all around us. Nature influences our emotions and actions and brings us closer to God. Although there is a vast difference between the mountains, the ocean, the desert and the jungle, all of them are here to teach us more about the spirit of God.
Putting these ideas together, I should say that the notion of nature is undoubtedly relate

d to beauty, happiness and spirituality that is why, each and every individual worldwide is under obligation to contribute to its prosperity.

Gardens of Lisbon

Gardens of Lisbon

This work will try to introduce some of the gardens in Lisbon. There are plenty more to discover such as: Estufa (Fria e Quente), Jardim Botânico ( The Botanical Gardens), Jardim da Estrela, Tapada da Ajuda, Eduardo VII, Campo Grande and so many more.
Enjoy them!!


Serafina Park
Also known as Parque dos Indios, it’s on the top of Serra de Monsanto.
It’s a recent park, which is known by lots of parents who take their children to play there. The children have a place to learn how to drive and learn the traffic signals as well.
On the end of the park, you have a great view over Lisbon.

Gulbenkian Garden

Green, green and more green.
You can read a book listening to the birds.
You can walk all over the garden, see different plants and flowers, and feel nature without leaving the city. The Centre of Modern Art is located in this garden.

Jerónimos Garden

A place by the river where you can play football, walk with the children or lie down and do nothing on a sunny day.Children can ride a bike or skate. It’s a family garden.
These gardens are placed, as the name says, close to Jerónimos Monument, which is one of Portuguese greatest constructions, built by order of the Portuguese king D. Manuel.
Best of all it’s close to Pasteis de Belém, which are delicious.

Jardins Tropical do Inst. Investigação Cientifica e Tropical
Close to Jerónimos you have to pay to visit this garden because it’s open to the public ,but it’s not a public garden. It has, as the name says, tropical plants which are important both economically and botanically.

By Teresa Nunes

«Fichas»

For those of you who have not given me a «ficha», please do so URGENTLY. The «ficha» should have a photo.

Thanks.

Tips 4 U - Arts in Books

I was thinking in a way I could turn this assignment’s presentation into a more creative and elaborated idea. So, I came to the conclusion that I should divide it in many parts, and each part would have a different theme in which I would give you three connected suggestions. But that wasn’t enough. Then, I tried to imagine a way to make this more attractive and accessible. Finally, I figured out that maybe if I posted a picture of the “product”, a definition or a review of it and a link, for you to search by yourself more about it, the work’s goal would be more easily accomplished. Here you have my first topic and its three related tips:

Arts in Books

Haring
Alexandra Kolossa
Taschen, 2005

This book is part of a great and well known collection from Taschen. I chose, specifically, this one, not because it’s the best of them all but because I wanted to present to you this important painter of the 20th century.
Keith Haring wasn’t only an original artist but also a man aware of his time. His life was an example of how to make a change by small steps that don’t cost us much. He draw to children (published and offered children books with his “simple” art for them to paint), he painted to fight Aids (imagined and passed messages related to this century disease, HIV, through advertising); he used new materials (spray, aerosols) and new means to show his art work: street walls, houses’ walls, subway walls, etc.
The virus was deadly for him but its art keeps showing up everyday, in music videos, movies, live concerts, fabric patterns, etc.

Klimt
Gottfried Fliedl
Taschen, 2006

To celebrate Taschen’s 25th anniversary, they thought of publishing cheap editions of some of their important books. And we couldn’t be happier about it. Taschen started as a comic books store and turned into one of the most important art books publisher in the world’s market with its eclectic collection of books having different editions so all “pockets” can afford it: an artist, an aspiring student or even a curious (like me).
I recommend everybody to watch out this and other celebrating editions such as: Picasso, Matisse, Hopper, Bauhaus, Symbolism, etc.

Good Faeries Bad Faeries
Brian Froud
Pavilion Books, 1988

Faeries have always been a part of children’s imaginary but Brian Froud caught adults’ attention with his amazing drawings and its descriptions or surprising additional texts.
Once in a while, especially in the winter (don’t ask me why!), I open up this book and let my imagination fly away with the pages to this magical world just by admiring these artistic and unique faeries drawings.
I know it’s a bit expensive but it’s worth it thanks to its originality and actually, it’s one book made out of two books; two sides of it, as the title correctly suggests.
It’s a pity that his books are not translated to Portuguese yet, because its vocabulary it’s not very accessible.

Tea with the Birds

November 12th

It’s a cold Sunday morning here by the riverside, where I live since my mother’s passing away.
I’ve always loved these winter days. We can feel the fresh breeze that makes us want to grab the blanket we have in our cosy bed to keep ourselves warm, so it feels like we’d never left it.
I brushed my hair and washed my face. Then, I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for two. For me, I put two small croissants in the oven and a kettle full with half a litre of water in the cooker.
By the time I was filling the croissants with strawberry jam, the water started to boil, the steam went by my face and Twinkles, my black cat with bright light eyes (two tiny shining stars), jumped from the fridge to the ancient kitchen table made out of Portuguese oak tree wood, and from there to the floor; it went to the balcony’s closed door and tried to open it. I smiled and said, “What a great idea Mr. Twinkles! Just because it’s cold it doesn’t mean we can’t have our royal breakfast outdoors”, I opened the door, “Go on, and take your seat. I’ll sit next to you in a minute. Let me just prepare your tuna fish.”
And so, I took Twinkles’ tuna fish, my croissants, the kettle and a dark pink mug outside and put them above our green metal table. The grass and flowers’ smell caught my attention as I walked to pick some herbs for my tea. I collected them in the palm of my hand and tried to preserve its fine aroma in my nose so it would get in my mind, and it worked! I began to feel incredibly calm while I was listening to the birds singing, as I hadn’t felt for such a long time. I was living that moment and I wasn’t alone. As the river that runs near my white house, that has fish and sea creatures in it, I had in me various feelings and thoughts that contacted peacefully with the surrounding nature.
Now I see why my mother used to call these sweet, but yet powerful, moments “Tea with the birds”.

Engrish!

I felt free to post a hilarious website, www.engrish.com . This website has an interesting list of English mistakes and humorous translations made mainly in Japan and China. Enjoy!





Photo courtesy of Sophie Lockner.
Signage found in China.

Joana's profile

Hi!
My name is Joana, as you all know by now. I was born back in 1950 (a very good year!) in a place called Roslyn Heights, Long Island, New York.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roslyn_Heights,_New_York I grew up in a village on Long Island called Great Neck ( you can check it here http://greatneckvillage.org/ and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Neck%2C_New_York) My dad was a diplomat working at the UN headquarters in New York, so after his mission in New York he was given a post in Rio de Janeiro, so off we went on our new adventure: new school, new classmates). I've had my share of traveling and moving around! This is an old picture of me taken with my classmates of the British School of Rio back in 1959. Guess where I am! This other poto was als taken in 1959 (at the end of the school year we'd always have a play)








My hobbies include : reading, going to the movies, singing (which I do once a week-I sing in a choir) and I also love dancing . I'm learning flamenco but it's very hard). I also enjoy cooking!

I live with my son, Daniel ( sorry no photo he won't allow me to post it) and my 3 pets: 2 dogs-mini schnauzers Bart and Chucky and a Persian cat, Blue (yes, the survivor!).

Music: Life's Inspiration (Daniel & Hugo)

Life without music is an error - Nietzsche

Music. What is music? It's everything.It's everywhere.Since the dawn of time humans have been trying to communicate with each other but more than that we as human beings have been trying to elevate our spirits beyond the confines of our shells, to surpass boundaries, to become more than just human. Music does just that, it grabs you from within and feeds your soul.You can clearly remember specific moments because of music, you can associate different songs to different periods of time.A beautiful and happy song for your first kiss, a sad and tragic melody for you first loss.A mellow and at the same time relentless rhythm that carries you through the day.
It make us cry, smile, feel good, feel angry, depressed, comfortable, and so on.
Throughout time, music has been created and reinvented; some styles died, others have influenced the creation of new ones. Today, there is an unbelievable variety of genres and sub-genres, some so bizarre that would make Mozart turn in his grave. Nowadays, what was once considered noise, can now be considered joyful music the harshest and most violent sounds, which is the case in Death Metal, can be fully enjoyed; one single note can last for the whole fifteen minutes of the most deep Drone Metal song you can imagine.
Music will always prevail. It is simply put a force of nature, ethereal and invisible existing only in our minds and ears.Nietzsche summed it up better than I can ever put in words so I will leave with this fitting tribute to music and end this text the same way it started.With the melody of words.

“God gave us music so that we, first and foremost, will be guided upward by it. All qualities are united in music: it can lift us up, it can be capricious, it can cheer us up and delight us, nay, with its soft, melancholy tunes, it can even break the resistance of the toughest character. Its main purpose, however, is to lead our thoughts upward, so that it elevates us, even deeply moves us. ... Music also provides pleasant entertainment and saves everyone who is interested in it from boredom. All humans who despise it should be considered mindless, animal-like creatures. Ever be this most glorious gift of God my companion on my life's journey, and I can consider myself fortunate to have come to love it. Let us sing out in eternal praise to God who is offering us this beautiful enjoyment “

Nietzsche 1858"Über Musik" [On Music] (in: "Aus meinem Leben" [From my Life]

Well done!

Hi all,
This year was the 1st time I decided to start a blog with students. I had no idea what would happen, now I can tell you I am very pleased with the experience and I want to congratulate you all on a very nice job. As stated on the WELCOME section of the blog-this blog is yours-use it to communicate with each other-as you have already done- and feel free to post more photos, more texts etc. For example, I was thinking you could make a list of books, films etc. you would like to recommend your colleagues, what do you think?

Joana

Modern Architecture (Spela, Beatriz and Vítor)

We chose modern architecture to be the theme of our group work because we think it’s an interesting subject, once it’s related to arts and to the present-day’s culture. It could also be an amusing way to walk around our city, Lisbon, and a great opportunity to visit pleasant spaces and find out more about them.

Parque das Nações was the first thing that flew through our minds when we were trying to find examples of modern architecture. It's an important melting pot, where we can find contemporary buildings that were specially conceived to Expo ’98; we thought this “turning point” of national architecture should be also our “starting point” for this research.
Thanks to EU and Expo ‘98 was necessary for Portugal to open its doors and windows, and so we did. For instance, the beautiful Gare do Oriente: the train station, next to the world’s fair, designed by Santiago Calatrava. He chose steel painted in white and glass to materialize giant posts that look like huge cubic flowers that seem wide opened to receive the daylight or even the bright moonlight.

The Atlantic Pavilion (Pavilhão Atlântico) is a previous Expo ’98 building too, designed by Regino Cruz and it holds around 20.000 people. The pavilion is becoming an international reference, so we can’t reduce its importance to its revolutionary modern style, inspired in Portuguese historic symbols, such as the 15th century boats that were made out of wood, like the interior ceilings (of the pavilion), not only for aesthetic reasons, but also to create a better acoustic in the room. In the outside we have a more futuristic style; the oval form of the building and its materials, similar to rubber, etc, remind us space ships from science fiction movies.





European Music Awards 2005, Madonna and Pearl Jam’s last tours, or even sports’ events like “Monster Jam”, are some of the international events that took place here and gave this building more notoriety.

Alvalade XXI stadium was opened on 6 August 2003. The official stadium of football club Sporting is a big, impressive building, boasting a splash of colours which are associated with the team: green, yellow and white. A further point that was of interest to us was that the seats are all coloured in a rainbow of colours, so as to have the feeling of a full house for every game.
But this stadium is not only a sporting venue; the 52 000 capacity building, it is also a grand venue for live music concerts. Previous acts that were performed here include U2.
The architectural genius of this building is down to Tomás Taveira.

Marconi building is, in an aesthetic, architectonic and constructive perspective, a great reference of Lisbon.
As one of the new “Intelligent buildings”, it’s one of the best examples of technology, and a multifunctional space.
It was built in 1992, and designed by Raul Martins. Its design is not as simple as it might look at first. This building is well known for its symmetrical sides that look like stairs leading to the sky.

These are just some examples of modern spaces that unite arts (great architecture) with nowadays’ social and cultural needs that we can find in this improved city. We “left behind” some other buildings that we appreciate because of the time and words limit (e.g.: Ponte Vasco da Gama, Pavilhão de Portugal, …). Maybe we’ll tell you more about them next time. We hope you have enjoyed this tour.

Monuments by the Tagus (David & Rui)

The Oceanary

Lisbon’s Oceanary is a museum of marine biology in Parque das Nações, and was built for Expo ‘98. It was conceived to express in an innovating way, the fact that the seas and oceans of our planet form a single Global Ocean.

It’s populated by 8.000 animals.

And plants of over 500 species.

It integrates five main habitats.

Its central tank has about 5.000 m³ of salt water.

Overall, the Oceanary is composed by 30 tanks containing over 7.000 m³ of salt water.

Vasco da Gama's Tower

Vasco da Gama Tower is a steel structure, 145 meters high, built in Parque das Nações, in Lisbon, for the world exposition in 1998. It’s one of the tallest buildings in Portugal.


The Vasco da Gama Bridge

Vasco da Gama is the most recent bridge over River Tagus in the area of Lisbon. It connects Montijo and Alcochete to Sacavém, nearby Parque das Nações, where Expo ‘98 was held. Its inauguration was on April 4th 1998. This bridge is the longest in Europe, with 17.2 Km, 10 of which are over the waters of Tagus estuary. The distance between its towers is 420 meters. The name of the bridge celebrates the 500 years upon the arrival of Vasco da Gama to India.

Monuments by the Tagus (David & Rui)

Monument To The Discoveries

It was built by Cottinelli Telmo and Leopoldo de Almeida, both Portuguese artists, during the Salazar's despotism, namely in 1940.
- However, it was not inaugurated until 1960.
- It stands 52 meters tall.
- It portraits and celebrates the Age of Discovery period.
- Therefore, the base sculpture is a caravel, and aboard are the most prominent Portuguese explorers: Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, Bartolomeu Dias, Luís de Camões (although he was a poet, he also took part in a voyage to India), King Manuel I (...)
- The pavement in front of the Monument depicts a wind rose, along with a world map that displays the routes taken by the Portuguese during the Age of Discovery.

Cristo Rei

The Cristo Rei is a religious monument located in Almada. This monument was built in fulfilment of a vow formulated by the Portuguese Bishopric assembled in Fátima on 20 of April 1940, beseeching God to keep Portugal safe from World War II. Salazar, in spite of sympathizing politically with Germany, didn’t want to violate the old friendship with the United Kingdom, which goes back to the XIV century, and preferred to maintain Portugal’s position neutral, in order to avoid the War.

-It was inaugurated in 1959.
-It is 109m high, and it is built on a portico 75m high. On its top, the statue of the Redeemer opens his arms wide, facing the city. The arms span is 28 meters.
- It’s one of the tallest constructions in Portugal – 110 meters.

The 25th April Bridge

It was baptized as Salazar’s Bridge (Ponte Salazar), but after the Carnation Revolution its name was changed to 25^th April Bridge.

- It took almost four years for the bridge to be built.
- It opened to traffic in August 6th 1966.
- Its size: 2278 meters across.
- At the time of its completion, the southern tower foundation was the world's deepest (82 meters).
- It was the first suspended bridge in the world providing both a railway and a road.
- The northern tower pillar was built over a seismic fault. This was found out only upon the construction of its foundations. Because of this, it requires maintenance, from time to time.

Terreiro do Paço (also known as Commerce Square)

- It was where the royal palace was located for 200 years.
- In 1551, D. Manuel I moved from St. Jorge's Castle to this location.
- Unfortunately, this palace (and its library, which contained 70 000 books) was utterly destroyed during the earthquake that took place in 1755.
- Later on, this square was a priority to Marquês de Pombal, who reconstructed it.
- In the middle of the Square stands an equestrian statue depicting D. José I and his horse, stomping snakes (adversity), built in 1775 by Machado de Castro, a distinguished Portuguese sculptor.
- In the northern part of the square, an Arch of Triumph can be seen, and it's the entrance to the "Baixa" - Portuguese word for downtown.
- In 1974 the Carnation Revolution (Revolução dos Cravos) would take place here.