A very unusual Holiday Season

Through out my twenty something years of life there as been a constant in my Holiday Season: my younger sister... This is the first Christmas that we have not spent together. It's, for a lack of a better word, utterly strange.

In spite of not having spent this holiday season with my family, things were not as bad as I had expected them to be. :) It did not have the feeling of Christmas, but it was not as depressing has it might have been. Maybe because I was able to talk through the day with all my family, and I was even able to see some of them using this fantastic invention called Internet. Since I was able to talk to them things were less difficult. This was really important for me, since I strongly believe that Christmas is the season to be with your family.

Considering the distance to Portugal, we were still able to maintain a few traditions, namely eating a bit of bacalhau (codfish) and some traditional sweets (rabanadas and sonhos de abóbora).

But what was really unusual was the 25th of December... After having eaten some lamb with 3 of my friends, we decided to go ice skating... It was fun!! (I'm still able to feel the aches through out my body from the 1h30 we spent in the ice rink...) Never in my live I would have guessed that I would go ice skating on December 25th...

Macy's store @ Union Square were the Ice Rink is located

Our feet, ready to take the ice ;P

The Christmas Tree at one of the ends of the Ice Rink.

PS - I only fell once and I wasn't skating, I was standing "still" try to do balance my self in one leg (doing aviões)...

Happy Holidays everyone!! :D

This time a year a go I was in...

...Germany, more specifically in Hannover.

I went there to visit my younger Sister and had a very good time going around town and visiting Hamburg. I also saw what snowing really meant for the first time and bought two j-rock Cd's. :)

It was a visit that was promised for a long time and after finishing and delivering my MSc Thesis the time felt right to go there. It was my first flight in 13 years...

When I returned I said that I would post some photos, which I ended never doing. So after a year I'm finally fulfilling my promise.

The soundtrack and the hobby that helped the time pass during the train ride and flight.

A beautiful garden (I'm sorry but I do not remember the name of most of the sites that I went to).

A lake made by man, ordered by Hitler to give a job to many of the unemployed of that time.

A church that was destroyed during the WWII bombings and that remains in the same state to this day so that people do not forget the consequences of war.

The detail of the entry to a church.

A street in Hannover.

Hamburg.

A channel in Hamburg.
(One of my favorite photos.)

Bismarck.

Another church destroyed during the WWII bombings, this time in Hamburg.

What's really important?

I do not have a definitive answer.

For me this answer lies in the same box as what is truth?, it varies from person to person... the way I experience something is different from the way the person that is right beside me experiences it. Likewise, what is really important for oneself depends on who you are, how you were raised and of your own morals and personal values.

Reality can been seen through diferent perspectives.

That is why we should not judge others so easily, because something that is right for us might be wrong for others... what I hold dear might be different from what you hold dear...

I know that sometimes it is not easy to not judge others. Like every other person on this planet I have also committed this act. After all, we are only human...

All this conversation because I have important decisions to make and decided to avoid the subject by posting another random thought (lol)... See you around!!!

The world was watching and so was I :)

I now I'm a bit late, but could not let this pass... On Tuesday, November 4Th 2008 the world had their eyes on the USA and so did I. With the difference that my living room is located in San Francisco...

When CNN announced the projection that Senator Obama would be the President Elect, you could hear everyone screaming with joy and even some went out to express their happiness.

Better yet was the great speech that he delivered when accepting the task ahead. I'm sure that somewhere in the future our children will study this speech in school, as I studied I have a dream by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Lets wait and see what becomes of this, and I wish all the luck to the USA and President Elect Barack Obama.

Enjoy:
Obama: Victory Speech in The New Times (I wanna thank my Sis for giving me this link).

I have a question...

I have been meaning to post this for awhile now... but considering the previous post, and I think I did good to wait (bad excuse for laziness... lol).

And the question is: What stimuli most easily brings back memories to you?

I'll go first... For me there are two, music (a specific type of sense of hearing) and aromas, fragrances or perfumes (sense of smell). I think the first one is an easy guess for who ever has read as few entries of this blog, this one can lead to complete memories or almost complete memories. The second one, usually, brings back the memories of feelings, how I felt at a certain time (it's difficult to explain)...

I would really like to have some answers please, both in the poll that I posted and in the comment section, with more specific answer and examples if possible. Please, Please, Please... I'm really curious.

Since I ask for example, here's one. This music, reminds me of my sisters and cousins, but especially my older sister. When this album came out, I really hated this type of music. In the meantime I have grown very fond of it and it brings me very nice memories

Metallica - Enter Sandman

(credits to MetallicaVideos @ Youtube)

Yesterday was Remembrance Day for me...

This weekend we had Sofia from San Diego visiting us, and consequently we (me and Inês) went around San Francisco to show her the town. It seems like she loved it. :)

During whole of yesterday several events brought back a lot of memories or made me think about my family. During the afternoon there was a special presentation of jet planes by the Bay. Every time one of the jets did one specially wicked stunt (being it a loop or a flying upside down or pass by really near us, making you feel as if you where going deaf because of the sound of the engines) I only thought about my father and how much he would love to see that (Acho que ias adorar Papá!!)
(Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home, so I did not take any photos...)

After that I went to downtown, to Union Square, and ate, once again for me, the fantastic cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory, a sin waiting to be eaten. At this moment I thought about my Mom and her companion and also my sisters. They would have love that. It's just too much of a temptation. ;)

For dinner we had sushi, to be more accurate we ate Maki, better known as Sushi Rolls. At this time I could only think that I will miss this so easy access to Japanese Food when (and if) I go back to Portugal. I also thought that my younger sister would have loved this. Even if in the country that she is right now she can get easily eat it.

After dinner I went clubbing for a bit. The club itself is nothing special and yet again I had troubles with my drivers license, since most people don't believe that the person in the picture is really me (at the time I took my drivers license I was 18 y.o., I had really short hair and now it goes all the way to my waist...). So once again, I had to show my passport to prove that I really am over 21. (To be honest I find this a bit hilarious...) At first the music was a bit lame, really nothing special but after a while they started to play a lot of musics that brought back memories of my sisters and cousins from when we where little. From Madonna to Michael Jackson, going through Eurythmics and Depeche Mode.

The Depeche Mode music that they played was Enjoy the Silence (which because of more recent memories makes me think a lot of my younger sister). So, in honor of those times here is the video:

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence

(credit to MrAerinosigor13 @ YouTube)

In the end it was a very good day. And I have to say that I think that most of my family would love to come here, specially my sisters and my cousins. :)

Juno Reactor @ The Independent, San Francisco - the video

And finally the video... it's only 3 minutes...

(credits to me @ YouTube)

Juno Reactor @ The Independent, San Francisco (23 09 08)

Words cannot describe how awesome yesterday's concert was!!! It was above everything that I expected... The band was great, the audience was really into it and the energy levels were off the roof. Pure, raw, positive energy, that lasted for the 2 and half hours of the concert.

The background canvas.

I was mesmerized by the sound, the show, the dancers and singers and definitely by SUGIZO. The man has such a cool and calm aura around him, but when he picks his guitar... I do not even know how to describe it... only seen live, that's how awesome he looked to me (but I might be biased...). For a few minutes we where also able to seem him play his violin, but it was for such a short amount of time and not the kind of music to show his skills. But I'm not complaining, on the contrary, I'm more than happy to have had this opportunity.

SUGIZO

I really lack the words to describe the show in it self and the emotional experience it was to me. There are very few first time concerts that have moved me emotionally, in fact there is only one other. That one was the beginning of my "love affair" with Lamb, but the major difference is that I really didn't know anything about Lamb and this time I already had some background information on Juno Reactor. I got to know Juno Reactor because of SUGIZO, by reading his blogs and by the background information that I found about him. However, yesterday was the first time that I payed attention to their music and I can say that this is one of the cases that live is much better than recorded. Nothing can surpass the energy of a great live concert.

From the leader of the band (Ben Watkins, he was in such a position on stage that he was almost unseen for the entire concert, except for the few occasions that he picked his guitar and came to the center stage), to the British female vocalist, the Jamaican male vocalist, the South African dancers/drummers, the drummer (I'm sorry but he is the only one I have no idea about his nationality) and, of course, the Japanese guitar player, every single one of the was giving their best and just enjoying themselves. They almost looked like a band that played together all time, for how in sync with each other they where.

The male and female vocalists and one of the dancers/drummers (this man dancing, was something beyond words...)

What else to say?! I danced and enjoyed myself for the entire concert, needless to say that today I felt exhausted but also recharged of positive energy. I was really needing something like this. Definitely in my TOP 5 concerts, and I think you can guess the position... :)

What to add... If you have the opportunity, go see them live!! It really is worth it!!

I also recorded some videos but I was to close to the speakers, so the sound is very distorted. The only exception was the first one, in which they were entering the stage (has soon has YouTube allows it I'll upload it and post the link/video here).

The first concert of the month...

Tricky @ The Independent on September 14th was the first concert of this month.

So how was it?!

It could have been better is my first comment. Supposedly, Tricky had been hospitalized earlier in the day and he had to check himself out of the hospital to go to the concert, since the doctors did not want him to leave. This said it's true that he was using is inhaler, but it's also true the he was smoking pot through out the all concert... I would say that is not a very good combination...

I'm not familiar with his music and it was the first time that I saw him live. He somehow had a more secondary role that what I expected him to have, in some musics he did not even sing. And he the ones that he sung his vocals resembled more backing vocals than main vocals. They played a curious version of The Cure's Love Cats. In the end I have to say that I liked it, but I would like to see him live again when he is supposedly not sick, to see if there is any difference. To see if there is more energy on stage, because the crowd seemed to be really in to it.

There were two good surprises that night, the first was the venue... it's a good venue for more intimate concerts (it takes about 370 persons); and I'm going there next week for another concert with Sugizo, so even if I'm by the bar I'll be close enough to the stage to have a good look at him. The second was the opening act, Sonny... an electronic group with no bass-line (or at least with no live bass player), but with a fantastic drum section and curious vocals. Here's the link for his/their myspace.

I'm sorry to say that I did not take any photos, because I did not know if I was allowed. But I now know that I can take pictures if I do not use any flash. So... I'm planning to take a bunch of photos from the Juno Reactor and Sugizo concert. :)

Miyavi

Today is Miyavi's birthday.... wow I cannot believe I'm posting about this... lol

But it has a reason... this time last year I was finishing my Master Thesis and applying to the Internship program that I'm currently in. So much has changed... it's unbelievable. Of course a year is a very long time and a lot can happen, but you only notice when you look back and think about it. Somehow, at that time, I really did not believe that things could have taken this turn. I don't why, but that is the truth. Maybe it's my not very optimistic nature.

I remember that one year ago, Miyavi's music was really important for me and the message within it was what I needed at that time. So, in order to celebrate the evolution of life:

雅-miyavi - 陽の光さえ届かないこの場所で ｆｅａｔ．ＳＵＧＩＺＯ (Hi No Hikari Sae Todokanai Kono Basho De feat. SUGIZO)

(credits to AKC925 @ YouTube)

Link to the lyrics and translation all credits go to baka_neko @ Jrock Revolution Forums

For your amusement:

American "Bigfoot" is monkey suit @ BBC news.

I cracked myself laughing...

Note concerning the photo albuns

I have changed the order of the photo albuns, the most recent ones are now on top.

Also, I added two new photo albuns: Stefan's last night and Going around San Francisco - Financial District and Chinatown. :)

Time for the long overdue post...

I've been wanting to write ever since the 3rd of August... But for various reasons, must of them related to laziness (*cough*) we arrived to the 19th of August without a single update.

So why did I want to write since that particular date?!

Because, on the 3rd of August we went to Stern Grove Festival, a free entrance festival with a lot of good performances. On this day the performances held were the responsibility of SI*SÉ (myspace) and Bajofondo (myspace). The two concerts were amazing, but Bajofondo completely stole the afternoon...

If you follow the myspace links you'll get a taste of the vibe of each of these bands. Both are from the electronica field, but while SI*SÉ is in the trip-hop area, Bajofondo is electronic tango, so in the end the vibes are completely different and the last one is more danceable and festive (and I love trip-hop, one of my all time favourite bands is Lamb). Which was in complete accordance with the vibe of the festival (yes, I've notice the over-use of the word vibe, lol).

The venue (if we can call that a venue, the concerts were held at Stern Grove Park) was completely full, there were no places to sit. By the end of Bajofondo's concert almost everyone us jumping up and down and dancing to the sound of the fabulous music that could be heard. In the last music everyone (not everyone, but a lot of people) jumped on the stage and started dancing with the band. I have a small video showing this (yes, it's mine).

Bajofondo @ Stern Grove Festival 03 08 08:

To hear the complete music please follow this link -> Bajofondo - Los Tangueros (credits to romeropablo @ YouTube).

All this to say that: Bajofondo rocked!! And that in San Francisco you can go to fantastic concerts without having to pay anything!! :D

After this fantastic concert, almost everyone went to our place to eat a so so (fantastic, :P) feijoada, also known as bean-oada, cooked by Marcos.

Other than that, we have been blessed with a few sunny days that have felt as heaven. On these days, which happen to have occurred mostly on Saturdays, we went around the city. Namely, we went to the Financial District, Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf (on this last day, that was this weekend the weather was terrible, cold and misty..).

On Fisherman's Wharf we were able to eat fish (which is a rarity here) and see seals. I have photos of the seals (as soon as facebook stops his tantrum I'll post the link for them in the usual place).

I also returned to the Japan Center and bought a gift for myself, Sugizo's (myspace) last release: Cosmoscape, that is a collection of the 10 years of Sugizo's solo work. It was worth every cent that I payed for it. :D

This is a very short summary of what has happen this month, but sincerely I'm not that inspired to write... sorry...

More to come in the future, whenever I'll get the mood to write. (Sorry, but it really depends on the days...)

For my Family :)

Tom Jobim and Elis Regina - Águas de Março

(credits to streetjustice90 @ Youtube)

Sometimes I really don't know what to think...

Plan calls pill, IUDs abortion in cnn.com

What to think?!

The link is for a video, I hope you can see it.

EDIT: Here are some articles, since it seems the video is no longer working:

Bush proposal to change abortion definition in ABCnews.

It's been a month...

Who would say that a month could go past so quickly?!... Everyone!! lol

When you are doing something new and exciting time just flies by. And that was what happen in this first month in the States. To think of it, I almost didn't have time to think of what was going on, of where I was. So many thing happened at the same time: searching for a place to stay, moving in, in the mean time facing jet-lag (so bad that on my first night here I fell a sleep on the restaurant..), going out, meeting new people, starting work, welcoming the ones that arrived after us and saying goodbye to the ones that welcomed us.

At this moment the balance is positive, even though most of the city is still to explore and tons of things are still to be done. :)

A month has passed, 6 and half to go (the countdown has begun).

Booka Shade was...

...simply phenomenal!!!

Tomorrow I'll edit with a video, if I find one.

EDIT: Instead of one you get two videos!! Enjoy!! :)

Booka Shade - Body Language (live)

(credits to physicalfilms @ Youtube)

Booka Shade - Charlotte

(credits to physicalfilms @ Youtube)

Last Week

I feel like writing but I don't know what... isn't that strange...

Things here in San Francisco have been going great. Lots of parties, not that much of sightseeing and lots of new acquaintances that have a great potential to become good friends (I'm sorry!! But I'm not one to call a person a friend so easily. However some have already a special place in my heart and others are getting there.)

This past week has been quite hectic. Starting on last Sunday our "welcoming party" (C11 interns) commenced their return to Portugal which ended yesterday, hence the parties and dinners. From what I saw I know that you guys really enjoyed your stay here and made a big effort to pass us that message. Thank you for your warm welcome and even though the time we passed together was short it was full of good memories. I hope to someday see you all again, but must of all I hope that this 8 months full of experiences will become a good foundation for your personal evolution.

The only sightseeing of the week was a short trip to Haight Street (Sis I think that you would like this street). The once heart of the Flower Power and Love Revolution. It really ended up being a short trip and I wanna go back to see more of it and maybe take some photos, because even though I took my camera I didn't took one photo to show for it... It's an interesting neighbourhood full of Zen shops but it also has some more commercial ones. We entered a second hand clothing shop, that had from 50's swimming suits to 80's evening gowns and everything in between. Very interesting. :)

Ohh, and yesterday the weather was great, the best that it has ever been since we came. I was able to wear sandals!! Yuppiii!! But today its cold again and grey...

What more to say?! I think that will be all for now. Don't forget to go see the photos, the links are on the right side bar and please say something.

More photos...

I just uploaded a new photo album and more will come this weekend...

So, if you're interested, go take a look. :)

Be careful...

Net firms in music pirates deal in BBC news.

Even though this concerns the UK law everyone should start to be careful with file-sharing, things aren't has simple as they were...

On a side note: this is my 105th post... and it's my first news post in a long time...

Pleasant surprises...

Sometimes a simple pleasant experience can come from the most unexpected and innocent act.

The most simple gesture can lead you exactly to the right thing for you at that moment. And you can even be unaware of how much you were needing it... You might have a slight idea, but not the full grasp of it. In the end, it might have been your subconscious giving you a heads up when you decided to do that simple gesture or ask that simple question.

The problem is that you might feel the need to repeat it, but you know that either it was a one time thing or due to circumstances that are out of your reach your time is very short.

But at least you experienced it and it will remain a good memory. :)

And sometimes things have the meaning that they have because they are random events.

P.S. - Just another random thought.

P.S. 2 - I want to write much more but I really don't know how to express the thoughts and feelings that are running around my head.

Photo Albuns

Links to my photo albuns will be given on the sidebar (->), please go take a look... tell me if it works and if you liked them.

More to come...

See you!! :)

Japan Center

On Saturday I went to one of the places that I really wanted to go ever since I knew that I was coming to San Francisco... The Japan Center... Can you guess why?! :P

Ohh god!!! I got completely lost there!!! I was able to taste Japanese food, that wasn't Sushi, even though I love sushi I'm very curious about the other plates. The food was great and at a very accessible price.

But the biggest treat was the store that I found that sells from magazines to cds passing through dvds of Visual Kei. All my favorite bands were there... with more than one cd. Ohh, the effort that I had to do to not buy anything... The prices were a bit high and this is not the month for that kind of expenses, but next month... who knows... :) I really looked like a little kid in a candy store!!

I also found some Japanese textbooks that may come in handy, if I decide to still try to teach myself Japanese. :)

To summarize: I was in Heaven for about 2h this weekend. :P

The Lost Boys... Memory Lane... :)

Let's make a break from posts concerning San Francisco and Inov Contacto, not that I have written many of them...

Yesterday, my young sister send me a file called Surprise, on that file are two musics from the 1987 movie The Lost Boys. I only opened the file now and it was a drive down memory lane. This was one of the films we saw bunch of times with my older sister and our cousins when we where younger.

The movie's soundtrack is awesome, from the musics that where written especially for it to the musics that where "borrowed", for instance the movie opens with People are Strange from The Doors. At that time my older sister was in a The Doors phase, among other things.

Besides that, the movie is completely 1980s from the visual aspect to the music, going through the story line. However, I think that it's good 1980s movie, well it's a Joel Schumacher movie and it stars Kieffer Sutherland (trailer)... :)

Here is one of the great songs from the movie: Gerard McMann - Cry Little Sister (credit to StylishSurfer @ YouTube)

San Francisco - first impressions...

Cold... very cold...

Coming to San Francisco, in the state of California, one would expect a very comfortable temperature... well I'm sorry to say that the weather in San Francisco, most of the times, is equivalent to the beginning of Spring in Portugal. That is to say, it's to f*****g cold for this time of the year. And to think that I considered bringing my Winter jacket and decided to leave it at home... I only have summer jackets...

Another characteristic of San Francisco is the fog, rare is the day that is free of fog... and it's an heavy fog. It usually starts to settle at the end of the afternoon beginning of the night, it's quite spectacular to see it coming from the hills into the bay. But you know that you are going to be cold when you are out in the street that night.

Ohh, and the hills... they are pretty but a pain in the a** to climb... here is a photo from when we went looking for a house and ended up going almost to the top of one of this hills:
(The image won't upload, I'll try again later... FINALLY IT WORKED!!)

But I have to confess that I'm liking my stay here, even if until now I haven't had that much time for myself. Maybe now that I already have a house I can start to relax and get into my own special rhythm.

And another thing, the cars are huge... really huge, even the small ones are big when compared to Europe. Of course from time to time you see a Toyota Yaris or a Mini, but that is rare.

More to come when I have the time and the right feeling to write. :)

The arrival (finally...)

(The only picture I took during the flights: Ilha do Pico, Açores)

The journey to San Francisco was long, tiring, fun, stressed, calm and something I had never done.

Let's start from the very beginning...

I woke up at 5h30 in the morning so I could have the necessary time for my morning routine and leave the house to the airport with all the calm in the world. I didn't want to start my almost 24h journey day stressed. Everything was good in the journey from Porto to Lisboa, with the small exception that there were a bunch of kids in the same plane as us that had never flown. Meaning that all small things were an excuse to scream and laugh, they counted about 4 times from 5 to 1 in hope that the plane would take off when they reached 1... :)

When we arrived to Lisboa it was already time to start boarding to the flight to New York, so no time to go to the free tax area. In here, our remaining 3 journey companions joined us. The flight was completely booked and we ended up getting separated, when we had pre-booked our seats so we could be near one another... This was a good flight, even if long, 8h long... And then we arrived in Newark. We didn't get to see the Statue of Liberty, only some of us our lucky enough to see Manhattan, because we were on the right side of the plane (which would be the left one). And here started the big adventure... the first time you arrive in the USA you have to go through the Immigration Services.So, we got “held” in the Immigration Services for about 2h, and why?! Because even though we were legal, the time frame that our visas allowed us to stay in the USA was not long enough to complete our internship. So, due to that four of the six of us lost their connecting plane to San Francisco. Since I was the first one to get my extended visa I was still able to catch my plane, but I really had to run. There was this very nice sir that resolved that since I was in such a hurry I should volunteer to do a more through check-up, that is aside from having to take off my shoes and put them in the x-ray machine with my bag and computer, I was searched by a police (security)-woman and my bag, computer and shoes were screened for any trace of prohibited substances...

There were some “interesting” stories in the time in got held in the immigration services, for instance a guy was led there with his hands handcuffed, a Portuguese man was there because is name was similar with that of a guy that was having troubles with the police and there was this couple that the guy had to be deported, because if he entered the US he would be arrested... this one was a bit sad, the girl was completely torn and the boy didn't know what to do. They were still young, early 20s. But it really was the best for him to go back to Portugal, than to be arrested for 5 years...

And back to our journey, my flight to San Francisco was horrible because I didn't know what happen to the rest of the guys and was completely stressed. After 6h10m of stress, I arrived at San Francisco International Airport. The plane still was at the gate and I already had my phone on and tried phoning them... and my calls wouldn't go through. So I decided to get my bags as fast as possible (if they had made it to the plane) and go to the arrival terminal for the plane of the one that would fly separately from the rest of us. I got there and waited for about 5 minutes for her plane to land. But then I couldn't see her... I start thinking that every one was stuck in Newark, and that I couldn't reach anyone... but then we spotted each other. We decided to wait and see if the others came in the next plane, if not we would go to the hostel by ourselves. Luckily, after about an hour they arrived (their plane was late... they weren't very lucky).

Then, off to the hostel where we arrived around 2h in the morning.

I was exhausted, but I almost didn't sleep, and suffered severely from jet-lag until Wednesday, today was bit better, but I still feel tired easily...

And this is the report for the journey to San Francisco. Others will come for the remaining days. :P

The last post in Portuguese soil?! Maybe...

After two "quick" passages through American soil without having to board a plane I obtained my visa to the States.

On the same day that I went to pick my passport, with the before mentioned visa, my flight (or should I say flights) to San Francisco was confirmed. And what I didn't want to happen is going to happen, that is we are not going to have a direct flight from Europe to San Francisco. Nope, we are going to do a small (3h25m) pit stop in Newark Liberty International (Newark). Which is going to be better for us if we consider the amount of time that a direct flight would take (around 14h). The way things are planned now we are going to do two smaller flights of 8h10m (from Lisbon to Newark) and 6h20m (from Newark to San Francisco). God, I'm going to end this journey so dead...

I'm leaving from Porto airport at 9h30 and will arrive at San Francisco at 21h40 (local time), which corresponds to 4h in the morning in Portugal. I'm curious about how will I be at the end of the day (yeah, I know I'm a bit of a sadistic... because, of course, I will be as fresh as in the morning :P).

So tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I'll be busy packing and trying not to forget anything important.

But I'm feeling so calm about everything... I'm really surprised with myself... Probably won't sleep from Sunday to Monday. Ohh yeah, I stil haven't told when I'me leaving... hihi... Ok, so that should be Monday, June 30th 2008 from Porto to (Lisbon -> Newark ->) San Francisco.

Bye... I probably will not post again before I get there.

So..

.. tomorrow for the first time I'll set a foot in American soil and I don't even have to take a plane. ;P

hihihihi

Something funny :)

Sometimes I come to my own blog and expect to see something new!!

Isn't it funny?! Since I am the one who is responsible to update the blog...

I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm curious about what people think of what I write... or even if they read the blog.

And that's the random thought of the day. :)

Today was...

..bank day!!! Yuppiii!!

I had several things to do that required me to go to 3 different bank agencies. Fortunately there was almost no one there, in neither if the three of them. Meaning that I was able to take care of everything quite fast. :)

Unfortunately, I choose the wrong pair of shoes... No, they weren't high heels, they were flats, but they hurt my pretty "little" feet... Poor feet...

lol, I'm in a completely random mood...

Well, because I wanted to take care of everything has quickly has possible I decided to wake up early (which means alarm clock). Since I didn't get any sleep last night, and only took a nap in the middle of the afternoon (slept around 4hrs), it took me almost 30 minutes to get out of bed.

As you can see this is really just a random post. I just felt like writing something, anything...

The hard thing about not being able to live without music...

...is that if you are going to travel and have a new computer you have to transfer the whole of your music library... which, depending of the time, may vary between 9GB and 15Gb...

It's a very boring and labourous work... lol... but I'll be able to take my music with me. :D

P.S. - Maybe I'll try to take a little nap before going to perform my tasks for the day...

P.S. 2 - This what I decided to do to take advantage of my insomnia. :P

EDIT: I decided that this would a very fitting song for tonight. :)

Faithless - Insomnia (live in Glatonsbury 2002)

(credits to mikeyb37@YouTube)

I've never seen them live, but it should be a awesome show. :)

Hello There...

So why am I posting at 7 in the morning... well, let's see... insomnia... again... Why?!

Because when I was almost falling a sleep I remembered that in about 2 weeks I should be in San Francisco... which is good, but I still have a few things to take care of and, to be honest, I still haven't fully digest that bit of information...lol

Sometimes it's just better if things happen swiftly, if you don't have time to think. I had to much time to think, letting my mind get somewhat confortable with the ideia that it's nothing but a dream... I'm really ridiculous. :)

Ohh, and I had decided to take some photographs today... Needless to say that that particular project has been cancelled... maybe the day after tomorrow...

On a side note...

Today, well yesterday I went to see the latest Indiana Jones... :) I liked it!! I really love the dry humour. I think I'm going to see the previous 3 sometime this week.

And the awesome news was...

... that I was accepted in a International Trainee Program, and above all that I will be going to do my internship in SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA!!!! To tell you the truth at the time I wrote that post I still didn't know where I was going to go, we were only told at the 23rd of May. Yes, I know that today is the 9th of June... but I really took my time to digest the news. And I think I have still to fully digest them...

I really had no expections when it came to the place I was going to be send to when I arrived for my week of formation in Lisbon. However, during the week I would sometimes harbour the thought it would be cool to go to San Francisco. And guess what?! That was where I ended up. And I'm going to be there for 9 months... :)

The only thing that I'm sorry about now is that Miyavi has already gone there for his world tour... bad bad timing... :)

So, in about a month the posts are going to start to coming to you directly from the USA. I'll try to be little more consistent, to give you guys a feeling of how the things are going on across the pond and a continent. ;)

(credit to www.iicsanfrancisco.esteri.it/)

A year of JRock...

So, around this time last year, I first heard of Japanese Rock music... And a very interesting relationship began. I haven't felt so thrilled by music for a long time, and not only the music but the people that make the music.

I got to known Miyavi, Gackt, the Gazette, Alice Nine, Kagrra,, Sugizo (and, consequently, Luna Sea) and Yoshiki (which of course also includes X Japan) and a few others. These artists are not only appealing because of their music but also because of their visual style. For instance, I cannot imagine Miyavi without his tattoos, piercings, crazy hats and clothes. The remaining artists also have a very strong and charactheristic visual image. However, in the end their music is what remains.

Give them a chance, don't get shocked for their visuals or their stage antics (some people might feel ofended, but its fanservice; it exists because the fans want to see that kind of stuff). Go to YouTube and search them. I'll leave here some links for each of them.

Miyavi (oficial homepage; wiki)
Selfish Love
(the music/video that made me fall in love with Miyavi)
Hi No Hikari sae todokanai kono basho (ft. Sugizo)
(the latest single; link for the lyrics translation - credits to baka_neko - just in case your curious)
Ashita, Genki ni Naare

Gackt (oficial homepage; wiki)
Lust for Blood
(also the music/video that made me fall in love with Gackt)
Misty
(instrumental, have a bit of patience and wait until the music starts its worth it)
Returner -Yami no Shuuen
(the latest single)

the Gazette (oficial homepage; wiki)
Chizuru
Filth in the Beauty

Alice nine (oficial homepage; wiki)
Souen Namonaki Kimi e
(definitely my favorite from these guys :))
Q.

Kagrra, (oficial homepage; wiki)
Utakata
(the link for the lyrics translation is some posts back)
Sakebi
Satsuki

Sugizo (oficial homepage; wiki)
Synchronicity by Soundtrack
Lucifer
Kind of Blue

Luna Sea (oficial homepage; wiki)
(i don't know Luna Sea that well... this is just a glimpse; to tell you the truth I still have a lot to learn about all these artists, so search for them if what you see and hear is somewhat enjoyable for you)
Storm
I for You
Rosier

Yoshiki (oficial homepage; wiki)
Symphonic Concert Trailer
(Yoshiki is, among other things, a composer, a piano player and a drummer)
Drum solo
Unnamed Song

X Japan (oficial homepage; wiki)
I.V.
(from Saw IV soundtrack)
Art of Life
(only an excerpt, since the original is ~30 minutes long; to hear the remaining of the song follow the links that are in the description box)
X (version 1, 2)
Rusty Nail

As a bonus a music from a band composed of Yoshiki, Gackt, Sugizo and Miyavi:
S.K.I.N. - Killing you Softly
(unfortunatly something official has yet to be released)

There is a ton of other JRock and/or Visual Kei bands that I don't know. This is nothing but a small sample.

PS - It took me more than a hour to write this post. And I was stupid and lost the last few that I had written, because I logged off... So I had to re-write everything and go after the last links again...

PS2 - I had two addtional PS's but I don't remember what I wrote...

PS3 - I remembered one: It seems like I don't feel lazy to write about Japanese Rock music in English. To tell the truth it feels completely natural...

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

Uns minutos atrasado... mas pronto o que conta é a intenção...

Boa sorte na nova etapa da tua vida que estas quase a iniciar. :)

Aqui fica uma música da minha infância que me lembra o meu Pai sempre que a oiço. :) (Apesar de ser um pouco deprimente.)

10cc - I'm not in love

(credits to alaf22 @ YouTube)

PS - Não ando com grande vontade de escrever em inglês. :)

I just got the most awesome news.... :D

Eu não acredito!!! Não estava nada a contar, pensei que já se tinham esquecido de mim!!! Estou completamente histérica!!! LOL

Não há nada como a nossa Língua Mãe para expressar os nossos sentimentos!!!

deus...

Mas é sempre a mesma coisa, ainda esta semana tomei uma decisão na direcção completamente oposta. Mas, por outro lado não posso desperdiçar esta oportunidade!!! Estou completamente tola!!! :D

No entanto, não é nada de definitivo. Só ao fim da primeira semana é que vou ter a certeza, portanto só daqui a mais ou menos semana e meia é que vou dizer mesmo o que se passa...

Para ficar completamente feliz, só preciso de uma coisa...

A step forward...maybe...

Today I made a decision, well sort of, that may lead to the next step in my life. To tell you the truth I was super excited this afternoon, but in the mean time I was able to calm myself and put some sense in may own head. lol Sometimes I think I'm to much of a rationalist... :)

So it seems I may be picking on the next stream to follow. Let's see...

On the other hand...

...I knew there was a reason why I had stopped following the news...

There's so much pain in the world that sometimes it seems that you can almost touch it.

So today's topics were the aftershock of Burma's cyclone, the earthquake in China (a 7.8 in Richter scale) and situation in Lebanon. We cannot do anything against Mother Nature, except try to ease the consequences (it looks like the Chinese where quick to respond, which was good). But the wars... I do not understand them...

(I will try to post a bit more often, even if I don't have nothing special to say.)

Because I love this music...

Pearl Jam - Oceans (Ten)

Hold on to the thread
The currents will shift
Glide me towards...
You know something's left
And we're all allowed
To dream of the next
Oh, ohh the next, time we touch...

Oooh... (4x)

You don't have to stray
Tho oceans away
Waves roll in my thoughts
Hold tight the ring...
The sea will rise...
Please stand by the shore...
Oh, oh, oh, I will be...
I will be there once more...

Oooh... (4x)
Uh huh, oh yeah... (2x)

(lyrics @ tripod)

This music reminds me of my teenage years, the house I used to live and my sisters. However, nowadays it goes beyond that, because it makes sense in my present has well.

Life goes by so fast, not that I feel old, on the contrary I feel younger than what I really am. :)

Up for a full year!!

So yesterday was the one year anniversary of this blog....

I was convinced that it was around the 16th or the 17th of May... that's why I didn't post yesterday...

I've been planing this post for a while...

So in order to celebrate the one year of this blog here is a video from the one and only 雅-miyavi, from is last concert has a indie artist. :)

雅-miyavi - Shiawase nara te ot Tatakou (if your happy and you know it clap your hands, lol)

(Credits to Oresan382 @ Youtube for posting it)

Drifting

Is drifting being lost?!

Most of my life I have drifted, meaning, I never thought far ahead or made many plans. I was never the type of person who would say "When I grow up I want to be ___ (insert any given profession)!!!". Of course I had my own childhood dreams, to be a Ballerina, but, at the age of 10, school became more important. After that I decided to be a Mathematician, however, when I reached the 10th grade I felt like I was not suited to be one. So I decided to study Biology (seeing that I was so good at that). And I did, I am now a Biologist. I even have a Master's degree in Plant Biology. But, once again, I find myself at a crossroad, in which what I did until now does not give me the pleasure it used to give and the sense of fulfilment. To tell you the truth I did not feel accomplished when I finally defended my Master's Thesis; I felt relieved for closing that door.

But now what?!
What is the next step?!

No one can tell me because that is something that only I ca decide. And, above all, I do not wish to be given the answer. (Well, when I feel desperate I do, but only in those moments!!!)

I feel like the stream that has brought me here has somewhat stagnated. SO, am I lost or without a stream to drive me?!

Is drifting being lost or being a little careless?!
I don't see myself as careless, because, once I engage in something, I will give my all to accomplish it.

Oh well, I think it is now time to find myself a new stream and see where it will lead me.

Does it sound like I believe in fate?!
One thing is certain, I don't believe in coincidences, but I do believe in freewill...

As a final note I have to say that I admire the people who, from a young age, know what they want to be and really do work hard to accomplish their dreams (no matter what comes in their way). They have my full respect.

I'm FREEEEEE!!!! YUPPIII!!!

Finally!! This Friday I defended my Thesis!!! It was the last time that I had to meet my ex-boss as my supervisor, I'm finally done with the lab. :) And I'm happy!!

I had a good grade, so... all is good. :)

This chapter of my life is closed, a new one is starting... let's see what is to come. :)

At the request of several families (my Sister)...

... and because I was a bad sister and didn't do a Happy Birthday post for my Younger Sister:

Here is an update!!! :)

Almost at the end of another month (I have to become more assiduous in this blog).
Well the big news is that I am going to defend my Thesis this Friday, meaning that all be finally done with that particular period in my life (and about time). Other than that every thing is more or less the same.

And has belated Birthday post here is something from my and my sister's childhood. ;)

Madonna - Like a Virgin (ohhh so many memories :D, isn't it sis?!)

Credits to ars291 for posting it on YouTube