Utada Hikaru - Flavor of Life :)

This weekend I rediscovered that I like watching japanese dramas, and with tthis discovery came the memory of a song from one of the first dramas I saw Hana Yori Dango. The title song for the second season was the song that I am posting today.

I really like the whole ambience of the song, for the the violins to the softeness of her voice and lyrics are... :) Enjoy.

Utada Hikaru - The Flavor of Life

(credits to hikki @ YouTube)



Tina Turner - I Dont Wanna Fight

This music reminds me of my Mother and I decided to post it.

Jinhus grandes Mamã. :)

3rd year of existence and other stuff

Yesterday marked the third year that this blog has been up and... (more or less) running. Actually, I did not forget this time (I've put a warning on my cellphone, lol), but I did not feel like writing. Also, no cool subject came to mind.

So, why am I writing today? During the day while chatting with my Sis online, she was listening to a Portuguese Radio. It seems that they where in a mood for memory lane and, consequently so was she. As usual she decided to share some of them with me. One of which that I decided to share with you all.

I actually thought that this song was not has old as it is. Its from 1989... uau... But it is a fun song. Enjoy.

D.A.D. - Sleeping My Day Away

(credits to AndreRicardoAlbino @ YouTube)

Long time no see...

I know... I' ashamed... Almost two months without posting (and the blog police has been mum about this, which surprises me more...).

Life has been hectic these past 2 months, too many hours working. I know that it was my choice, but I still have the right to complain about it. So I am bit on the tired side, and that means either lack of inspiration or lack of wanting to come here and write. Right now I am writing so I can proscratinate a bit more, I have something to do for work... :)

In order to completely succeed in my proscratination, I decided to share some music with you guys. I remembered this music in particular because of a CD that was given to me about 4 year a go by a good friend with whom I have been out of touch (Hope that everything is alright with you?). This CD is a compilation of albuns that he thought I might enjoy, among them there are two of Zero 7. One of my favourite song of them is Destiny, that I decided to share with you:

Zero 7 - Destiny

(credits to ub4k @ YouTube)

Canção de Engate - António Variações

After yesterday's depressing post, I decided to share with you all a music from my childhood from one of Portugal's most innovative artists from the 1980's. :) 

I know it's been almost 30 years, but it is an amazing song. 

Actually, my first real recollection of this song is a cover, even though I think I have always known it was not the original. So, I decided to share both versions and the lyrics. Unfortunately I have not found the translation and I lack the confidende to do it myself (I am a Biology major not an English major..., but I might try to persuade my Sister... hihihi).

On with the videos:

Original: António Variações

(credits to MASMP @ YouTube)

To be honest, I do not remember hearing this version, but I liked it.

Cover: Delfins

(credits to nelsoncarmo26 @ Youtube)

 Lyrics (credits to LT):

Tu estás livre e eu estou livre
e há uma noite para passar
porque não vamos unidos
porque não vamos ficar
na aventura dos senti - dos

tu estás só e eu mais só estou
que tu tens o meu olhar
tens a minha mão aberta
à espera de se fechar
nessa tua mão deser- ta

vem que o amor
não é o tempo
nem é o tempo
que o faz
vem que o amor
é o momento
eu que eu me dou
em que te dás
tu que buscas companhia
e eu que busco quem quiser
ser o fim desta energia
ser um corpo de prazer
ser o fim de mais um di - a

tu continuas à espera
do melhor que já não vem
e a esperança fio encontrada
antes de ti por alguém
e eu sou melhor que na - da
refrão (3x)

And the usual links:

António Variações - Wiki

Delfins - Myspace

And the award for best concert of the year goes to...

 

DEPECHE MODE @ Pavilhão Atlântico, Lisboa - 14th November 2009

This has been a year full of concerts (well, I only went to 3, but that is much more than usual), namely from Metallica, Lamb and now Depeche Mode. All 3 of them were amazing in their own right, but Depeche was a bit more. Probably, because it was a concert from their tour and not a festival concert. Meaning that every single person that was there went just for them, making the ambience great. Everyone sang, clapped, waved, in all really enthused to see them.

The concert started with songs from their most recent album, some people knew the lyrics some people did not. I knew the songs (thanks to my personal dealer) but not the lyrics, just some of the chorus. Despite the not so complete participation (in terms of singing) everyone clapped and showed their support. However, as soon as they played they first classic (Walking in my Shoes) everyone sang, and it was breathtaking...

It was an awesome experience, and I am really happy that I decided to go despite having gone by myself. To be honest there are only three persons that I really wanted to be there with, and each of them got a phone call (I hope I called at the most fitting songs for you guys).

What else can I say?

I got a really good spot, with the excepcion of the tall and wide guy that got in front of me. I was 10 people from the front row and 3 from the walk through(I do not remember how this is called).
I was naive and did not take my digital camera... And what was prohibited were professional cameras... Well, next time I know better. I took two videos with my cellphone, but I forgot the cables at home so I cannot pass them to the computer...
I hate when people do not respect the rules and the others. It is prohibited to smoke inside the Pavillion, but people kept on doing it, some right next to my nose and some just through their cigarretes without stepping on the and not looking if there was someone behind them.

Highlight for me: It's No Good (live in Lisbon, not mine)(well, the whole concert was amazing, but I remember falling in love with this song when it first came out and I really freaked out when the song started).

Other than that: Home (live in Lisbon, not mine); Enjoy the Silence (live in Lisbon, not mine); Stripped* (live in Lisbon, not mine); Personal Jesus (live in Lisbon, not mine); Walking in My Shoes (live in Lisbon, not mine), Precious (live in Lisbon, not mine) and many others.

Note: David Gahan is one sexy man!!!

* I could not find anything but live videos. And this one looks awesome. :)
PS - It was more difficult than what I was expecting to find the originals...

Smile (music by Charlie Chaplin)

(Credits to ChaplinsViolin @ YouTube)

Smile
Music by Charlie Chaplin
Lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile with your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just
Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

that's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

I have to be honest I remembered this song today because of Michael Jackson's memorial. However ,this is definitely a great song, that even though it carries a message of hope it as a very sad feeling to it (at least in my opinion). Please enjoy. :)

This time a year ago: Independence Day @ San Francisco

It's hard to believe but a year as already passed since I first arrived in San Francisco.

Even though I did not write anything on the 30th of June, the actual day that I left Portugal, I spent most of the week thinking that it's been a year. I remember that at the time I was really happy to be able to be in the US for the 4th of July, because I know that it is an important date for the Americans. Unfortunately, due to heavy fog (what a surprise fog in San Francisco...) at the end of the day we were not able to see the fireworks. However, during the day we went visiting the outskirts of San Francisco and went to Muir Woods National Park to see some Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

Here are some of the photos that I took at the time:

Crossing the Golden Gate Birdge for the first time. (You can actually see how heavy the fog was that morning...)

First time stepping on a beach at the Pacific Ocean.

Just something I found curious.

Some of the great views surrounding San Francisco.

A fallen redwood, showing the actual age of the tree, it was born in ~989A.D. and fell in 1930.
Several important dates are marked.

Actually, the July 4th is also a holiday in my hometown. :)

Shocked!!

Today, was a day filled with tragic news from the entertainment world... The one that is the most shocking for me is Michael Jackson's death.

Like most kids from my generation, I grew up listening to Michael Jackson. My first ever live concert was Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour in 1992 at the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, I was only 11.

I loved dancing to Thriller, Beat it, Bad, Smooth Criminal, Black and White... and the list goes on. Despite all the controversy that surrounded him throughout his career, I still respect him as an artist.

Michael Jackson - Thriller (full length)
I wanted to embed the video, but all the videos said Embedding disabled by request.

R.I.P.

Michael Jackson
(1958 - 2009)

P.S. - I know that this not the most updated image of Michael Jackson (actually it is a 27 year old image), but this is one of my favourite images of him.

Golden Gate Bridge by Night

Golden Gate Bridge
(08 11 08)

The last 24h...

Right know it's 7h58 in the morning... So I have 24h and a few minutes remaining in San Francisco. :)

What to do with the remaining time?!
Finish packing, go for brunch, go around town and most of all enjoy the day.

There were few times that I thought that time was not going by, but, like always, in the end it has gone by quite fast.

Well, I do not have much more to write. See you when I'm back home.

To my gals...

I cannot believe that time as passed so fast... it's been almost 10 years since we met at the Caloirodromo... :P

The other day I heard this music for the first time in awhile and I could not stop from remembering some of the time that we spent together. :)

So just for you girls:

Tribalistas - Velha Infância

(credits to RobinIchirou @ YouTube)

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!!!

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. :)

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.

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)

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

A picture...

I've been to post this picture for about 3 weeks, but I've been lazy... Those shadows are from me and my Mom. It's not specially artistic, but... I like it. :)

Century - Lover Why :P

About a hour ago I was sitting on my couch trying to read some articles with music on the background (I can't work without music...). As usual my ipod was on shuffle... suddenly Lover Why by Century starts to play. Instantly a big smile appears on my face, this music holds so many memories of my childhood. :)

For a long time I didn't know the name of the song or of the band, until my little sis found it and shared it with me.

So today I decided to share something that makes me smile:
(credit goes to senhorgasmo for posting it on YouTube)

P.S. - This was the best quality that I found.