Bill Bailey is a genius and his love song is the best ever!

Most of the UK knows who Bill Bailey is. Portuguese readers of this blog might remember him as the long haired guy in Black Books. He is one of my favorite stand-up comedians of all time and he is also an amazing musician. He has the best love son of all time, originally entitled Love Song. I hope you like it as much as I did.

P.S. - Can you tell I just found out how to embed YouTube onto my blog? :)

Lost....

Those who know me know I am not one who loves poetry uncondicionally. I like it, oh yes, but I'm not one to sit and read poetry for hours on end. This one, however, is an exception....

Perdidamente / Lost

To be a poet is to be taller, is to be bigger
Than men ! To bite the way you kiss !
Is to be a beggar and to give as if you were
King of the Kingdom this side and the other of Pain !

Is to have a thousand splendorous wishes 
Is not even to know that you are wishing
Is to have a flaming star inside
Is to have claws and wings of a Condor !

Is to be hungry, to be thirsty of the Infinite !
By crown, the mornings of gold and satin…
To condense the world in one shout !

And is to love you like that, completely lost
For you to be the Soul, and Blood and Life in me
And tell everyone singing.

The original version in Portuguese:

Ser poeta é ser mais alto, é ser maior
Do que os homens! Morder como quem beija!
É ser mendigo e dar como quem seja
Rei do Reino de Aquém e de Além Dor!

É ter de mil desejos o esplendor
E não saber sequer que se deseja!
É ter cá dentro um astro que flameja,
É ter garras e asas de condor!

É ter fome, é ter sede de Infinito!
Por elmo, as manhãs de oiro e de cetim…
É condensar o mundo num só grito! 

E é amar-te, assim, perdidamente…
É seres alma, e sangue, e vida em mim
E dizê-lo cantando a toda a gente!

Also, this poem was turned into one of the most beautiful songs by the Portuguese band Trovante. Enjoy....

The iPod is the greatest invention since the wheel, chocolate, Star Trek, Dr Who and kittens..

My first one was a Nano, that lasted for about a year, until I washed and dried it, and, shave my legs and call me Susan, it stopped working. Who would have thought it? In my own defense, it was around the time when the period in my life I'm now calling The Never-ending Car-crash was getting into gear, no pun intended. And the poor thing was on my trouser pocket, and was a) immersed in water for about 45', and then spun and dried for a little under an hour. And that killed it, thank you very much. After some very creative saving and financial rearrangement, I managed to acquire a silver Classic, 120 GB. And, in a way - and yes, I am aware it is inanimate.... - it has been a company. I have pictures, audio books, movies, songs, TV series, you name it, its there. Ideal for long coach trips and the 40' each way walking in and out of OUDE (Oxford University Department of Education). Apple hit the bullseye with this technology, I tell ya. Who know, I might get a Mac at some point....

Old portuguese saying....

I can finally write about it. In the old country, we have many sayings. I guess it was a form of preserving wisdom in an farming/agricultural world, where the next village was half a day away. One of them, roughly translated says: 'Better alone that in bad company.' How very, very true. Why do we keep around us people that are bad for us, when, just out of simple probabilities, there must be at least one other person, out of 6 billion, that is actually good for us? Why do we stay chained to pain and suffering, and tell ourselves lies, and falsehoods, just because, it might turn out OK? It is so much like plugging yourself into the Matrix, you're manipulating the sensory input, changing and adapting what is coming in, so that you see what you want to see, hear what you want to hear and believe.... Whatever you want to believe.

Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill??

Still, I don't regret it, not really. It is with pain that we grow, and I am (or will be) the better man for it. And it was fun, before the decay started, and all went to dust. You win some and you loose some, I guess. The oriental religions believe in the cyclic nature of the Universe, karma, and all that. I will leave this purified and ready for the next one, in every possible sense of the word! :)