Good old Bossa....

A late evening in a semi-rundown house in central Lisbon. Some friends have gathered in his room and sit at their convenience - resting their backs against the walls, lying on the floor, or just somewhere in the middle of the room. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed. A bottle of wine is finishing, but another one is already on the way. They chat about the... what did we talk about? Parties, the beach, the city...? Definitely not uni, since most, despite being there as exchange students, rarely attended any classes. There is the sweet smell of mint in the air, a painting and a poster on the wall, the friends, the wine, bossanova and the youthful belief in all of these things lasting forever...

Biafra

I just finished reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, which I purchased at Mumbai International on my way back from India. Strangely enough, this was way before my new found interest for Africa for those of you that believe in deja-vus and premonitions. It's a grasping story portraying the war for Biafran independence in the 60s through the lives of two sisters, their families and friends. A beautiful story which will touch you, make you cry and make you wonder. For those who don't know much about history of the African countries - it'll provide insight into the history of Nigeria. I can't wait till I get onto reading Purple Hibiscus.

Contributions

I don't normally give into the Eurovision song contest madness and just simply ignore the entire craze. However, this year since my favourite instrutor mentioned some contributions I figured I'd check them out on Youtube.

Erghmmm....
Russia's Enrique-Iglesias-wanna-be with a pronounciation making it difficult to understand that he's attempting to sing in English has a dancer rollerblading around him and the choreo is basically him turning and throwing his arms open over and over and over again...

Azerbeijan's Axel Rose meets R.E.M. meets Meatloaf is interesting to say the least.

The Swedish contribution is obviously another ABBA/Carola song.

I'm very sad to see that Greece's song is nothing but a re-take on Christina Aguilera, Britney and Rihanna with Mediterranean beats. Even the title is almost is almost a Ginnie in a Bottle plagiarism.

Ireland makes me almost speachless. Seriously. It's a turkey with an entourage of cabaret dancers with a song resembling the We are the Winners Lithuanian contribution two years ago. It must have been a sad day for the Irish when they found out this was the song representing them internationally.

Germany has an enjoyable song performed by blond German Spice, hat-wearing German Spice, Beyoncé German Spice and the afro-and-big-hoops German Spice.

Iceland is still stuck in the 90s and the 2Unlimited era of No Limits. You have to understand them though - they're cut off from the world and it's cold up there.

Latvia mixed up the tracks and sent in the contribution for a new Disney soundtrack to Eurovision. I wonder what they sent to Disney?

The positive surprise with the Polish Eurovision song this year was soon explained by the fact that the singer is American - thus the lack of a strong accent and ridiculos outfits that were the norm in the past years.

Spain has a new Gasolina song they decided to market before the Beach 2008 season.

Bosnia has a Coldplay song sung with kids voices. And a rooster in the performance.

Serbia's represented by an over-dramatising singer, but the song is touching and has a feel of ethnicity. Peruvian ethnicity.

The Czech republic has realized the ingredients for success - cheesy lyrics, girls in short-short outfits and a chubby guy pretending to be a DJ.

I'm happy for Vânia, the Portuguese Idol contestant, who got to represent Portugal. Very melodramatic and nostalgic, i.e. just as if should be in the country of Fado and suadades. I'm curious however how the rest of Europe perceives it.

France was represented by a Bee Gee. I guess the barbers are on strike.

I finished off my Eurovision 2008 escapade with Madonna Piaf representation of Cyprus and the Israeli contribution that for some reason felt he needed to break into English. Enjoyed both.

Matar Saudades

It's been so long since the last time I logged on here, that the address no longer appears automatically when I start typing...

The recent BIG event that's taken place is my trip to Portugal - first time for purely touristic reasons. My Aussie friend Kate arrived the day before we were set to go; her bags 2 hours before our departure from my place. Once in Porto, the car rental representative was late (the traditional Portuguese 5 minutes) and then offered two pieces of advice that particularly stuck in my mind - in part he made Porto sound like São Paulo (attempting to sell in an additional insurance) and in part he made me feel right at home.
1. empty the car yourself and make sure it's visibly empty by leaving the windows open and the luggage on display - "the kids will break in even if they just see one EURO"
2. if you park in a prohibited place and you get hit by another car, re-park your car and then call the police... home, sweet home =)

The following two hours were spent, as a result of the guy's instructions, circling in the wrong part of town looking for the youth hostel, getting lost, finding each other and then our accommodation. Although the rest of the trip went quite smoothly, the highlights would include drinking wine, a weird guide in the Casa de Mateus, more wine, three of my Barcelos roosters coming to a premature death, strawberry juice in Aveiro, grilled cuttlefish at DolceVita in Castro Daire, port, the car randomly starting to roll down the road, the sightseeing, shopping a tacky tablecloth as well as clothes... and many more.

The pictures are going to have to wait until a more thorough selection has been made, but there are plenty =) as usual...

Apart from Kate's awesome company throughout the whole trip, it was great to see Ms Keys, Bela and PP again - a real feast for the soul!

The New Generation