Delusions

As always, plenty of ideas for posts came to my head but lazy me failed to actually post them here. I have a good excuse this time. Got a job that keeps my hands (and head) very, very busy. And truth is I´m building up a post on my head for more than a month already…and when posted (it´s not this one) it will look like a mess despite all of that time in the oven…if you are a 20-something kid on that university > work + not being a kid anymore > grown up limbo you will understand it.

When I was young, around 7/8 years old, the circle of life was easy to understand to my very naïve mind. 1) You live 2) You die 3) when 2) happens you are immediately born again in some random part of the world with no memory of a past life but yet it was still, somehow, you.
Naïve, I know. Still…I´m quite sure you can´t tell me exactly what happens when we die so who knows if it isn´t this that *actually* happens? AH! Who´s naïve now?? (Still me, I know)
But…how awesome would it be? Sure you could end up in crappy places with a crappy life (although my greedy mind always thinks I would be born in middle-class households) but one of my earliest and favorites impossible fantasies I remember having is to be born and grow up in a different country of the world every time your life (lives) would come to an end. Trying to explain it: I was born in Portugal and grew up here. I was raised and act according to costumes/habits that are associated with the place I was born, the city, the region, the country, etc. Happens that, as all of us, I imagine, I´ve always felt attracted to other parts of the world. In my case the Nordic countries and Australia/New Zealand are on top. And I would like to be born in those places (having always the memories of a past life with me) and see if what attracts me in them lives up to the expectations. Also, having the memories of past lives I could compare which place would be better.

You might argue that “Well, you can, on the one and only life you have, move to those places and see all you mentioned above” but my idea is that you would be raised and grow up on those places acquiring the costumes that very own place has and thus have an identity you don´t get when you are born in another place.
Another example: You, as well as me (if you are a 90s/millennium person that watched lots of tv), were and are flooded with American culture references. Movies, shows, news, etc etc. Tell me you never wondered how it would be like to go to *the high school*. Go to those home comings, balls, parties and all those shenanigans the word high school + America brings you to mind. Those huge university campus. The drive ins. The house in the suburbs. The NBA, NFL, NHL games. Get my idea? And, obviously being USA a big place, in my fantasy you would born more than once in the States, in different parts of the country!
It´s sort of silly, I´m aware…and I also had too much free time going up to think in silly fantasies… But that´s what blogs are for, right? Silly thoughts and opinions.

Festival Season

You don´t need to be a big music fan to realize that music festivals are happening. Every year, every Summer, music festivals are around and with many brands becoming part of the events they are getting more air time and publicity, so you don´t need to check music news or specialized websites to know where, when and who is playing on that festival near you (or not so much). I remember reading that around Europe (not knowing exactly the boundaries of the thing) there are around 400 music festivals. All genres included I´d guess.

I gotta say I´m a festivals virgin. I´ve been to a few different festivals but never did the camping bit festivals are associated with. Shameful, I know. The special thing about festivals is that, unlike that single concert you´re going to watch in the afternoon/evening which is already enough to make such day a special day, is basically a few days of music experience surround by thousands of others hoping for a good day of talented being displayed not only in one stage but in two, three, four.....or to the point I want to make with this post..... this .

I´m not posting that one particularly for the line up or the festival in itself. But...look at it. Here, like I mentioned, we´re used to 3 stages at a festival. Maybe even four or five with those stages being a bit different (at the entrance of the festival or even in some place near the festival but not exactly on the grounds of it). But there you can´t even know exactly how many they are because after those two main arenas they just put a bunch of names and say "appearing across all music arenas".
Then you go down the line up just to see theatre, dance, film, comedy, spoken word, literary arenas! When you go to a (normal?...) festival you know beforehand that you will have to compromise this or that band or even a good place in the crowd because you wanna see that other band playing on the stage on the other side of the place. Now imagine going to one like this. Imagine one of your friends wants you to watch a cool movie on the film tent...or a really good comedian on the comedy tent...or he wants you to go check that dj on the electronic tent because he plays that one cool song (gotta say that is a good tent to go spend some time late at night on a festival, at least I like it...maybe because I don´t listen or go out for that kind of music)... Conclusion: you have to be prepared for some busy 3/4 days and take a couple more afterwards to sleep because sleep must be vastly overrated at Latitude festival and the likes of it.
Let´s not even talk Glastonbury...I don´t know much apart from videos on Youtube, photos and some news articles but it looks like a league of its own. On the line-up it says "acts & attraction across over 100 stages"...on a festival for more than 175.000 people... I´ve been to a day in one festival with almost 100.000 and it had a couple of stages and a few attractions...I thought it was awesome...

Live

Apologies dear blog. I´ve been very inconsiderate towards you. I checked and this is the third I went a month without posting...even if it was only a music video (aka lazy post) Forgive me. Here´s...well...a lazy post. But an awesome one!



After listening to the studio version of this song a long time ago I searched for a live one to see how this song would sound on stage. Took a long time for one pro-shot version to appear. But it does not disappoint. Definitely helped this song to become one of my all time favourites (uh...big words!).
I don´t know what it is but Susanne has something...something that makes me wish I could meet her for chat. Also to clarify something she said on an interview about Kate Bush...don´t question such lady, Susanne...I wanna like, both, your music and personality! So keep on being cool.

It´s Music To Your Ears

This is why I adore Youtube



This video is 17 years old... And this song is just... If there´s a song worth checking its meaning it´s this one.

Review - Mumford & Sons - Coliseu de Lisboa

I come very late for this review. Mainly because there won´t be any review. I know my reviews are biased based on I only go to concerts which artists I enjoy listening. But when it comes to this one it´s hard to do one while I´ve been singing and jumping all concert. Massive show. Go watch them if you can is a valid cliché to apply in this case.

Kudos to Jesse Quin (member of Keane) and Deap Vally for the opening acts (and later participation on M&S songs). Well chosen.

Film

Another late night, another movie watched. I was thinking about writing a tweet that would go something like "I´m not an hipster [am I?] but I´m a sucker for this kind of movies *insert indie movie trailer here*" but I´ve decided for a whole way-more-than-140-characters-blog-post instead.
The webplace where I watch movies, maybe like many other websites out there, has this annoying habit of presenting on their main page movies [in great quality!] that are yet to be released in cinemas here or even in many of the countries that would premiere the movie way earlier than where I live. Although sometimes this is good because some of this movies won´t even get near a wide release or let alone a cinema near me I don´t feel particularly excited tor watch it before the masses or anything like that.

I use to avoid those suggestions, I´ve started to note them down to watch later (in case they premiere on a cinema near me and I watch it for the first time on a proper screen) but the premise for "Something Real and Good" intrigued me.

The story is very simple. Think about a boy and a girl. Thing "Before Sunset/Sunrise", "Lost in Translation", think low-cost, think indie movie, think "Like Crazy". Do not think of breakthrough movie. It´s that I always had this preference for real [fake] stuff in movies. I don´t mind the sci-fi, superhero, special effects, outer space, magic world movie every now and then but I´ve always wanted to watch something real...even if not based in real facts...which most of the times have a lot of additional drama...

I´m sure this movie will get comments saying it was too simple, is full of clichés, has certain details that would not happen in real life (well, it´s a movie...don´t be an asshole like Iran and go around suing movies, ok?) and so on. But, in the end, I think even those smart-asses would like to such story to happen in their lives. I know I wanted. I´m probably thinking now that I would never do what the guy did, that I´m too shy or just not interested...but what if I tried like he did?
I´m aware the writing on tv shows and movies contains tricks so you can relate to the characters and have some connection/see yourself in them but isn´t that what we want? Relate? Let being played by emotions? That´s why we keep watching movies...that wannabe factor, making us a badass for those immediate 30 minutes after leaving the cinema on a action movie, or the conquering guy who gets the girl. Curious that on "Something Real and Good" I related more to the girl. Not going to explore much of it because - spoilers!! - but when she talks about love and nostalgia...again it´s simple/cliché and must be a trick...but boy...it got me on this late night film session (André Film Festival as I call it...damn, how pretentious do I sound on a scale to hipster-pretentious to every-movie-critic?...because every movie critic has "being pretentious" on their skills to get that gig, right?....right?].
And then she had to talk about her grandma too...like I wasn´t already hooked on her character!

Lately I´ve been paying attention to the duration of the movies and if they stretch a lot, are too short or end at the right time...(like a pretentious bastard...I´ve been watching too many reviews on Guardian´s YT channel, I´m sorry) and I feel like this one could go on just a bit more. I think you will understand why. I like the way it ended and if it went for a bit longer than the ~80 minutes it had (or maybe cut some scenes and advance in time more) it would probably end with the same note as it ended... Anyway...I really liked it. Sure many will think there´s nothing like "Before Sunrise" (which is very, very good) but this lame guy won´t grow tired of this stories and they definitely won´t be a waste of time for me. I´m 22, the male-character is 27 years old...maybe one day I´ll get my movie-like over-night-to-be-continued-or-not-flirt. Yeah, I´m lame. I told you so already.

Ricky Rubio

Ricky Rubio´s Advice to Shved when the match was not going well for him and his team:



I´m so lame I have watched this video a gazillion times already.