monopoly is fun

Susana, Christine, Hannah and I playing Monopoly last night until 12.30. I think the last time I played Monopoly was about 15 years ago and on a Portuguese board. It's fun to see Rossio transformed in Park Lane, and Campo Grande into Old Kent Road. And collecting £200 when you pass Go! instead of 2000 escudos when you pass Casa de Partida.

I won by the way.

brokeback

I am still in awe and I feel like I could cry at any moment just to think of Brokeback Mountain. [Just a though I wanted to share with all my (5) readers]

I don't remember the last movie that actually touched me in such a way. Probably Beaches. (eurgh kidding). Seriously now probably The Straight Story or The Hours in the last few years.

Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist - Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Who needs Leonardo and Kate now as a reference? Who did anyway?

This is probably one of the best movies I will see in 2006.

gay cowboys and woody in london

OK. First, please don't call it "that gay cowboy movie". Second, Jake Gyllenhaal rocks in whatever he does. Although Heath Ledger is the one that has been nominated for best actor in most cinema awards so far.

I'm going to the premier of Brokeback Mountain tonight. I am very excited and I cannot hide it.
Being a fan of Jake's talent (oh Jake how I love thee - let me count the ways...) I am very proud of seeing him doing such a daring movie - at least it is daring for Hollywood. I didn't dwell much into the theme of the movie - but the trailer was all it took to have me interested.
Then it's an Ang Lee movie and I can't think of any other director to do such a movie - he has the sensibility required for the subject.

Then Match Point, the new Woody Allen movie, on Friday. By watching its trailer it is not at all your typical Woody Allen comedie. It is quite harsh and dramatic and Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers look brilliant in their roles. What starts as an elegant movie in Britland with a man divided between two women eventually turns out into an out of control situation.

Besides both movies have been getting very good reviews everywhere so what a good way to start the cinema year in 2006.

more Pt cinema

(One of the best things of going to Lisbon on holiday is the ability to spend a small fortune in cultural pearls at Fnac Chiado)

O Fantasma [Phantom]
Saw this in the theatres when it was released in 2000. Film shock of the Portuguese cinema.
[At least I found shocking to see a long explicit blowjob in a movie theatre]
I didn't like it then and want to see it again from a different perspective. When I saw it I thought of it to be another very arty farty wanky Portuguese film - a lot of concept not too much content - "Poor guys is looking for love and then he turns into a latex wearer and ends up in a waste field". Very typical Portuguese feeling of never finding whay you're looking for which you don't know what it is so you will never find it.

It is a very difficult subject but as a starting point the aesthetics that the director has put into the movie are very interesting. It has some of the most beautiful erotic (explicit sex) scenes I have seen in cinema.

João Pedro Rodrigues' new movie Odete has just premiered in Portugal and France. Maybe it will reach London this year [it will probably get a premiere at the 2006 LGLFF (London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival].

the woman who believed she was president of the USA

"God gave America so many things! Liberty, civilization, the western world and the pilgrims. Planes full of cattle, gold mines, petrol, rockets… the Echelon! Don't let God down!"
The President, in A Mulher que Acreditava ser Presidente dos Estados Unidos.

This was one of the movies I bought on DVD while in Lisbon for Christmas. It is another Portuguese cinema nonsense pearl I thoroughly enjoyed watching. Brilliant actresses - there are in fact no men in this movie - Alexandra Lencastre as The President of the USA, and Rita Blanco as The Secretary take the leading roles.

In 2004, I remember watching the trailer for the movie in the cinemas before moving to London and as any Portuguese movie in Portugal this one also had a life span in the theatres of 2-4 weeks. Therefore the chance to see it there was lost until now - it's on DVD.

Another pearl from it (in Portuguese - it would lose a bit if translated):

A Criada Suzete: Perguntam da cozinha quantas senhoras ficam para almoçar.
A Presidente: Acho que ficam todas.
A Criada Suzete: E o que é que servimos?
A Presidente: Servem os congelados! Adoro congelados. No verão são frescos e permitem saborear as verduras ácidas da Primavera.

I wonder if Michael Moore has seen this.

100 singles of 2005

If not the best of 2005, these are 100 of the singles I most played, danced to and enjoyed in 2005.

Let the countdown begin...

100 Mylo ¬ destroy rock and roll
99 The Game ¬ dreams
98 Editors ¬ bullets
97 Art Brut ¬ emily kane
96 The Dears ¬ 22: the death of all the romance
95 Lady Sovereign ¬ random
94 Le Tigre ¬ tko
93 White Rose Movement ¬ love is a number
92 Hard-Fi ¬ hard to beat
91 Antony And The Johnsons ¬ you are my sister

90 Mew ¬ special
89 The Game ft 50 Cent ¬ hate it or love it
88 Ciara ft Ludacris ¬ oh
87 Soulwax ¬ ny excuse
86 Death From Above 1979 ¬ blood on our hands
85 Bloc Party ¬ two more years
84 Joy Zipper ¬ 1
83 Arcade Fire ¬ cold wind
82 The Subways ¬ oh yeah
81 Bright Eyes ¬ gold mine gutted

80 Lemon Jelly ¬ the shouty track
79 Kanye West ft Jamie Foxx ¬ gold digger
78 The Futureheads ¬ hounds of love
77 The White Stripes ¬ my doorbell
76 Sigur Rós ¬ hoppípolla
75 Sons And Daughters ¬ dance me in
74 Beck ¬ girl
73 Kings Of Leon ¬ king of the rodeo
72 Willy Mason ¬ oxygen
71 Kelly Osbourne ¬ one word

70 Stereophonics ¬ dakota
69 Saint Etienne ¬ a good thing
68 Interpol ¬ c'mere
67 The Juan Maclean ¬ give me every little thing
66 The Magic Numbers ¬ forever last
65 Gorillaz ¬ dirty harry
64 Foo Fighters ¬ best of you
63 The Go! Team ¬ bottle rocket
62 Mylo vs Miami Sound Machine ¬ doctor pressure
61 Arcade Fire ¬ neighbourhood #2 (laika)

60 The Strokes ¬ juicebox
59 LCD Soundsystem ¬ daft punk is playing at my house
58 Mylo ¬ in my arms
57 Goldfrapp ¬ number 1
56 The Rakes ¬ work work work (pub club sleep)
55 Goldfrapp ¬ ooh la la
54 The Kills ¬ no wow
53 Broadcast ¬ america's boy
52 Róisín Murphy ¬ if we're in love
51 Kelly Clarkson ¬ since u been gone

50 Beck ¬ e-pro
49 Fierce Girl ¬ what makes a girl fierce
48 Architecture in Helsinki ¬ do the whirlwind
47 The Rakes ¬ 22 grand job
46 M83 ¬ don't save us from the flames
45 Kaiser Chiefs ¬ everyday i love you less and less
44 Mew ¬ apocalypso
43 Pharrell ft Gwen Stefani ¬ can i have it like that
42 The Arctic Monkeys ¬ i bet you look good on the dancefloor
41 Kings of Convenience ft Feist ¬ know how

40 Patrick Wolf ¬ wind in the wires
39 The Cardigans ¬ i need some fine wine and you, you need to be nicer
38 Kanye West ft Adam Levine ¬ heard 'em say
37 Low ¬ california
36 Whitey ¬ non stop
35 The White Stripes ¬ blue orchid
34 Ladytron ¬ sugar
33 The Chemical Brothers ft Q-Tip ¬ galvanize
32 Girls Aloud ¬ biology
31 Franz Ferdinand ¬ walk away

30 Clor ¬ outlines
29 Gorillaz ¬ feel good inc
28 Maximo Park ¬ grafitti
27 The Knife ¬ you take my breath away
26 Charlotte Hatherley ¬ bastardo
25 Maximo Park ¬ apply some pressure
24 The Duke Spirit ¬ love is an unfamiliar name
23 The Kills ¬ the good ones
22 Engineers ¬ forgiveness
21 Gorillaz ¬ dare

20 Editors ¬ munich
19 Franz Ferdinand ¬ do you want to
18 Gwen Stefani ¬ hollaback girl
17 Ladytron ¬ destroy everything you touch
16 Patrick Wolf ¬ tristan
15 Arcade Fire ¬ rebellion (lies)
14 Sugababes ¬ push the button
13 The Rakes ¬ retreat
12 Bloc Party ¬ banquet
11 Annie ¬ heartbeat

10 The Knife ¬ pass this on
09 Girls Aloud ¬ wake me up
08 LCD Soundsystem ¬ tribulations
07 Madonna ¬ hung up
06 Vitalic ¬ my friend dario

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05 Clor ¬ love + pain

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04 Amerie ¬ 1 thing

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03 Interpol ¬ evil

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02 M.I.A. ¬ bucky done gun

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01 Antony And The Johnsons ¬ hope there's someone

the new flat

Welcome to Equity Square - where all illusions of having a luxurious perfect flat turn to dust like a castle made of egg whites.

Well, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just that the expectations were too high. Small things happened when we moved in. The agency (as all agencies) is a bit crap, but hey!

The location is magnificent, the flat is taking shape as the days go by, and the flatmates are great too.

Everything is walking distance from Brick Lane - work (40 minutes), curry houses (2 - 15 minutes, every other house is a curry house), cool'n trendy clothes shops, Shoreditch, Old Street, the Barbican, Old Spitalfields Market, crap markets where you can buy duvets for £10 and pots and pans for £6 each, Noodle King. Everything.

How people can live outside the East End is beyond me.

lisboa 2006 - natal

Christmas is time for peace, time for love, time for family. What would Christmas be withouth family, cod potatoes and cabbage, and useless gifts?

I like family - it's fun. Especially my family which i don't see too often - it had been a year since last Christmas. My nieces have now 5 and 7 years old. My sister is 26. I'm approaching 30 at the speed of light.

Friends are as important as family [they are much more fun to be with, but if you need money you go to your parents first] and I spent 2 or 3 days with them pre and post xmas days.

Then starts the guilt trip of not having time to see everyone you know in Lisbon because you don't actually have a month to spend there and you want to spend time with the few number of people that are closer and mean more to you.

After xmas you finalise what you have to do and you return with your unnecessary excess luggage (of 200 euros this time) of parma ham, cheeses, kilos of salted cod, and all sorts of delicatessen that one cannot find here in Londontown. I also brought back photos to scan and publish and bring shame onto my friends.

This blog sounds a bit disenchanted but I don't really know why. I like Christmas, I really do.