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Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts

Friday, 27 April 2012

gorgeous, yet wet, spring

27 apr 2012

avenue campus an hour ago - photo taken from my mobile phone

this spring has been wet, windy, and cold, apparently as it has always been in england.
we've had days when it gets complicated to even go out because of the torrential rain or the strong wind.
we've had beautiful days, when all is joy, here combined with an insisted chill factor :-)

please bring mild weather and more sunny days, spring.

Monday, 13 June 2011

feliz dia dos namorados

about yesterday, 12 june 2011
l'artiste et sa muse
12 june is valentine's day in brazil. it was justly celebrated here, too. how? by

- waking up in the morning to find a sweet valentine's day card at breakfast surprisingly written in portuguese 'feliz dia dos namorados';

- enjoying a rainy and windy day;

- going shopping for food [in the rain];

- appreciating andy warhol's exhibition at the city art gallery. the set of pieces at the city gallery are worth a visit. the other set, which is at hansard gallery at the university of southampton we didn't like very much;

- eating pear, garlic and mushroom cheese with stone baked bread for lunch;

- watching on cosy sofa the american film 'brother, where art thou?';

- eating 'winter in summer chicken' with new potatoes and drinking wine for dinner while listening to good brazilian music;

- . . .

Thursday, 26 May 2011

busy and cold and wet and happy

26 may 2011

highfield campus this morning. photo taken with my mobile phone.
i started the day with a consultation with my gp, who gave me good news about my health. uhlala! but i still have lots of things to do, and she gave me some very useful hints. she suggested i read about 'low gi diet' and explained why i would benefit from it. dr armstrong is so caring. i told her of things i have been doing in my constant struggle to have some control over my weight. she renewed my prescriptions and said we might consider lowering the already low medication i take to keep my blood pressure under control. i was pleased and surprised to see my blood pressure very much under control today. i suppose it might be a result of my low intake of sodium.

then i went by the accommodation office to pay for my rent fee. what a hassle. my credit card decides not to work when i most need it. i ended up going to natwest for an alternative and got all the problem sorted out in the end. i had to walk around campus and from highfield to avenue under a rainy / wet, windy, cold, bizarre weather. however, it felt quite warm inside the buildings. go figure!!!

Tuesday, 2 November 2010

autumn at the avenue

2 nov 2010

this is what the avenue looks like this morning in these gorgeous autumn days. i walked to the city centre and of could not resist and took some photos on my way to up town. the colors are unbelievably beautiful. they trees remain full of colourful leaves until the wind and the autumn rain come and make them all fall over the ground. later on the city council men come to collect them. and the trees will spend the rest of the autumn and the whole winter naked and unprotected to face the chilly days and the incessant rain.

St Edmund's Church is on the avenue. i found the image of the church behind the leaves very beautiful.

Wednesday, 25 August 2010

film: the secret in their eyes

25 aug 2010

o filme e a chuva
Hoje fomos pro cinema e cheguei em casa agora, quase meia-noite. Tava chovendo, uma chuva fina e insistente, mas eu nao ligo. Aqui eles reclamam muito do tempo, que pra mim eh as vezes muito bom. La pisamos em pocas de agua andando no estacionamento a caminho e de volta do cinema, mas foi divertido. Um povo vindo atras da gente fez o mesmo na pocinha de agua. Foi legal, mas eles acham que o dia eh horrivel. Horrivel pra mim tem que impossibilitar o transito ou outras coisas, o que nao vi acontecer aqui ainda. Era uma chuva fina, gostosa.

Assistimos o filme do diretor argentino Juan José Campanella 'el secreto de sus ojos' - 'the secret in their eyes', um suspense policial muito bom, que ganhou oscar de melhor filme em lingua estrangeira. A sessao comecou 9.20 da noite. Eh a historia de um funcionario da justica aposentado que resolve escrever um livro contando uns fatos, incluindo um pouco da vida dele e da investigacao de um crime. os aspectos tragicos de um assassinato nao desvendado e a propria vida de Benjamin Esposito se misturam muito bem no filme. Humor cinico e um final surpreendente. Adorei o filme.

No filme passou meia hora de comerciais e de trailers de outros filmes. Teve um comercial de um crème pra espinha de rosto de uma moca. Ele riu e eu perguntei se ele acredita naquilo. Ele disse que nao. Em seguida uma propaganda de cerveja, perguntei de novo se ele acredita naquilo, sim! Hehe

Ah, encontrei um povo conhecido no cinema. No banheiro encontrei a Jenna, que eh inglesa, so conhecida, nao amiga, apesar de ja ter ate ido a um pub com ela. Falamos oi e tal. Ai vi a Agota (hungara), que andava com a Jenna e mais um povo. Falei ligeiramente e subi pra ver o filme. Na saida vi uma professora daqui, acho que ela eh italiana. Com chuva, 9.20 da noite, e varias pessoas no cinema. Gostei tanto disso. Caminhando pro cinema, do estacionamento, eu cantarolei 'rain, I wonder why, today that such a different sky. . . Are you sad because you know my heart no longer sings. . .' trechinho que a sarah vaughan canta de versao de uma musica brasileira.

eu gosto tanto da minha vida aqui, e isso me da tanto medo aas vezes. Gosto dos amigos, alguns tao intimos e preciosos, com quem tenho conversas profundas e interessantes, sobre nossas vidas. Eh um povo proximo da minha sintonia. Gosto dos lugares, da cultura, dos ares, e da chuva. O frio eh triste, mas nao se pode ter tudo. Ah o medo nao eh so aas vezes, acho que preciso pensar um pouco mais sobre isso pra nao atuar e nao me deixar viver, o que ja fiz demais e causei danos aos meus sonhos nessa vida.

Friday, 20 August 2010

the gentle rain

20 aug 2010

sent out this sms this morning when i was back:

morning
just had a nice walk
on the common
with drops of light rain
on my face and arms.
it felt great.
have a safe journey.

Monday, 7 June 2010

the birds by the window

7 june 2010


listen to the birds in the video. i took these photos and made a short video of the car park from my window at st. margaret's house. it was a little chilly and wet because it had rained during the day. there is also music from my itunes adore jazz radio station, playing at low volume, but i opted for the sounds of the birds. i love to listen to the birds.

Saturday, 5 June 2010

film: “Brasileirinho: grandes encontros do choro”

5 june 2010


Director: Mika Kaurismäki
Writers: Marco Forster & Mika Kaurismäki
Release Date: 23 March 2007 (UK)

Cast
the great brazilian musicians and singers: Teresa Cristina, Paulinho da Viola, Ademilde Fonseca, Zezé Gonzaga, Guinga, Paulo Moura, Luciano Rabelo, Elza Soares, Marcos Suzano, Trio Madeira Brasil, Yamandu

Runtime: France: 90 min
Country: Brazil / Finland  / Switzerland
Language: Portuguese
Filming Locations: Brazil
Company: Marianna Films
Source for info above: imdb

To finish up well a difficult day I decided to stay home and watch a movie. It is the documentary “Brasileirinho: grandes encontros do choro” . the great film directed by Mika Kaurismäki is a pearl among the good documentaries about Brazil and about music. It tells of the beginning of choro, and shows some big names telling stories. It is nice to see the new generations wanting to study and play choro. it wa so nice to listen to the stories and to the fantastic sounds of the music of my Brazil. it might be obvious, but especiallythat day it was super nice to watch the film. if i am not mistaken they did not talk about chiquinha gonzaga, which was a bad surprise to me.

anyway, i was impressed by the young musicians learning from the older generations and much into the spirit of the music. i love Yamandu. i would love to be able to play a musical instrument, preferably the guitar. wish i could sing, too.
*sigh*

Monday, 30 November 2009

‘every day is a winding road’

30 nov 2009

We had a particularly tough morning today because the wind was very strong. The rain was no big deal, but insistent. It was a very cold morning, of four degrees only. I walked to Highfield, bought myself a cup of coffee and went to the law building to work. My umbrella was falling apart in harmony with the wind, which blows everything away.

I finished work and stopped by the uni shop to buy blank dvds and an umbrella, now a navy blue one. It was freezing cold and windy outside. I got some money from the cash point by the uni shop and this girl in the queue was shivering of cold. I had no choice but to enter susu building to equip myself: put on scarf, hat, and gloves, this big operation to face the not so unpredictable British weather: yes, it is not going to be so nice, at least not for long.

Well, i ended up getting late for a meeting with Jo. She was going to talk to me about the writing teaching that we do here in the programme. We ended up meeting later on, after 12 o’clock, as I had some ‘emergencies’: I needed to call Dorothy and we talked for a while.

Here is another emergency: I was walking towards my office (after the phone call) when Mariko approached me with such a sad face. It was to tell me that George Blue, our very nice and friendly George Blue, died this past Friday. He had been operated on a few weeks before and, as far as I knew, was recovering really well. According to Rob, it was a triple bypass heart surgery. He was my friend Buk’s supervisor. Buk had told me he was recovering ok, doing short walks, and Buk even visited him in his house one or two weeks ago. I knew he was seeing his students and talking for no longer than a half hour, but that he would be able to be back to work in January in full capacity. Well, the man passed away, apparently while sleeping, but I have no details.

And there I stayed in the corridor, talking with Mariko for a long time, we both in shock for such a sad end for our Blue. She had watery eyes, I could see it. It was interesting, because she insisted in being there with me for this long while in the corridor, as if she needed it, to talk, to share, to express sadness, and maybe – maybe – to understand all this. Mariko invited me to come down to the canteen at 12.30 to have lunch with her and Rob.

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

ain't no sunshine when it rains

25 nov 2009

and the bad times?
and the good times?
and these days in UK with the sun that smiles; then the sun shied away from life by the punctual rain that wants to 'attend class' and keep the tradition; with the wind that sometimes takes you places you don't want to go, but that also takes away undesired feelings. again put on sunglasses, sun is back. not for long, though. rain is back.

and what about the always changeable weather from both the inner side and the surroundings of ourselves?
this is so much about life. i have just been wondering how true to life the weather here really is. i see people everyday complaining about it. it is very common to hear: 'horrible weather', 'horrible day' and . . . ah, another one that we received by email last year, when some activities were canceled due to 'inclement weather'. i find both the word used to name it and the weather itself romantic and inspiring.

it is very interesting indeed what happens here weatherwise, and i think it is a metaphor for life: it rains, then the day gets somber and dark, with a movie scenario of naked trees and the strong wind blowing their leaves elsewhere in search of shelter. then the sun is back, proving nothing lasts forever. sun, darkness, sun, rain, leaves blown away. life, here, there, and everywhere, i suppose.

it is not possible to do 'any' planned action no matter the weather, but we can learn to work around the weather, keeping an eye on how it has an impact upon our lives. it does pose some limitations, but it does open alternative doors as well. ain't it about life?