Torpes in the UK

Sarkozy: O Hipócrita Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-12-16T16:17:00.000Z

(...)

Em recente entrevista, Sarkozy explica porque não baixa salários nem pensões: “se formos nessa direcção, colocaremos a França em recessão e em deflação. Se reduzir as suas receitas ao mesmo tempo que baixa as suas despesas, você não resolve os problemas de défice. Eis porque, em 2009, decidimos investimentos de futuro na ordem dos 35 mil milhões de euros. É o contrário de uma política de rigor e de austeridade". Sarkozy não quer para a França a cura que impõe aos outros e até explica porquê. Deve pensar que somos mesmo muito estúpidos...

Autoria: Miguel Portas (BE)

excerto retirado daqui

“A Auditoria a que temos direito” Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-12-07T12:16:00.001Z

(...) numa situação insustentável, quais os direitos que iremos defender, quais serão as prioridades, quem iremos proteger, quem iremos condenar? Deveremos proteger quem especulou contra a nossa economia, condenando milhões de portugueses à privação e à pobreza? Ou deveremos proteger os direitos que dão forma à nossa democracia, impondo pequenas perdas a quem nunca conheceu semelhantes dificuldades? A esta pergunta, nenhum cidadão hesitará em responder. Só uma auditoria séria e competente a poderá colocar a todo o país.

Autoria: José Gusmão (BE)

excerto retirado daqui

ver link: Dia 17 de Dezembro: Auditoria Cidadã à Dívida Pública

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls + Against Me! + Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo (26th November 2011) Location: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, UK

2011-11-28T16:31:00.258Z

Frank Turner performed his biggest Manchester headline show to date on Saturday night, entertaining a sold-out crowd at the Manchester Apollo.

I must confess that I was not a so called follower. I knew some of his amazing songs but it was a fairly recent discover. I was more of a plus-one but after this show I can definitely say that I am now another converted soul.

Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo

Unfortunately I arrived late and missed the opening act, Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo, which was a crime indeed. I heard some of their songs later on and their music is simply stunning. During their set there was even a guest appearance from Turner himself during the song “Fields of June” and I missed it. Damn!

Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo (with Frank Turner) - Fields of June (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

Against Me!

The pop-punk band Against Me! gave us an energetic set powered by guitar riffs played to exhaustion. The crowd gave them a warm welcome and seemed very satisfied with their show but they didn’t tick all the boxes for me. Their songs are a little bit repetitive. Without knowing anything about them, after a few ones I started thinking that I heard that song somewhere… Oh yeah it was exactly the same as the previous song. I know Frank Turner loves these guys but they didn't convince me. It is all a matter of taste...

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls

It was then time for the headlining act and as Turner took to the stage, opening with “Eulogy”, the atmosphere was already building and suggesting that something special was about to happen, and over the next hour and a half one thing became quite clear - Frank Turner, it seems, has made it.

As admirable as it is, selling out this venue is one thing, but filling it and putting on an engaging show is another. That said it was admirable that his show found a nice balance between the intimacy people expect, and the production a gig of this size needs.

Frank Turner is without any doubt one of the best English singer-songwriter of our time. Poignant and profound lyrics that lift you up but at the same time make you think and create a critical awareness about the world today. His lyrics and compositions bring out the best in all of us and this gig was living proof of that. Frank Turner is able to get everyone together celebrating their own individuality!

The crowd was hooked from the very beginning of the set but for me, it was not until ‘”I Am Disappeared” that the hairs on my neck officially stand up, and the music caught me in its net. The softness of the piano first chorus juxtaposed against the heavy guitars worked like a dream and hit me hard.

Frank Turner - I Am Disappeared (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

Even without the backing band though, Frank definitely proves that acoustic guitars can be rock and roll. The sing-along “Love, Ire & Song” got the crowd singing along. I finally felt like I was entering real Turner territory, with the politics and protest emerging from his lyrics. Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo rejoined him on stage, and the resulting sound was one of both beauty and bitterness, a killer combination.

My personal highlights of the night were the folksy songs “Wessex Boy” and ‘”Rivers”, both with some brilliant mandolin/guitar/accordion arrangements. The pride of being British emerges on “Rivers” in a way that even people like me (non-British) are affected by it.

Frank Turner - Rivers (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

Songs like “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous” and “One Foot Before The Other” deserve to be mentioned here for their lighting setup, in both cases perfectly complementing the tone and sound of the tracks.

Although the setlist leaned heavily towards Frank's newest record “England Keep My Bones” (9 songs), including the hit "I Still Believe", there were moments like an acoustic version of “Father's Day” which kept Turner's roots present and important throughout the show.

Frank Turner - I Still Believe (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

Frank Turner - Father's Day (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

Finishing the main set with a superb cover of Queen's “Somebody To Love”, the backdrop fell to reveal a huge banner bearing Turner's name and FTHC logo, a triumphant moment for both the artist and the people who've been following his career.

Frank Turner - Somebody To Love (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

He leaves the stage and returns shortly after for the encore, with a new song called “Cowboy Chords” and an old favourite ‘”The Ballad of Me and My Friends” which is understandably well received. Turner then attempts to unite the house singing, enlisting all audience to participate in the chorus of “Photosynthesis”, from the old followers and the plus-ones to the security guys and the people working at the bar in the back.

Frank Turner - Photosynthesis pt.1 (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

Frank Turner - Photosynthesis pt.2 (live Manchester Apollo, 26-11-2011)

The exceptional finale was given the confetti treatment, marking Turner's arrival to the big leagues. The chanting of “Most of all, I won’t grow up!” is a fitting end to the show, and I leave, as many others do, with a cheeky smile on my face.

The sound of Frank Turner’s guitar may not be changing the world just yet, but it has certainly changed my mind and spirit. Folk punk is definitely not dead.

After waiting a while, we met Frank Turner outside the Manchester Apollo for a little chat, pictures and autographs. Frank is a really down to earth guy who knows where he came from and who put him up there. The respect and care he has for his fans is just infectious. It is impossible not to like this guy.

Oh, and we are now Frank Turner's Portuguese ambassadors! Our mission is to spread the word of Turner to the Portuguese people. Well, that's a job I'll do with pleasure.

Setlist

Eulogy

Autographed CD by Frank Turner

Try This At Home

The Road

If Ever I Stray

Reasons Not to Be an Idiot

I Am Disappeared

Love Ire & Song

Polaroid Picture

Wessex Boy

Rivers

Father's Day

I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous

Sons of Liberty

One Foot Before The Other

Peggy Sang the Blues

Glory Hallelujah

Long Live the Queen

I Still Believe

Somebody to Love (Queen cover)

Encore

Cowboy Chords

The Ballad of Me and My Friends

Photosynthesis

Frank Turner website: http://frank-turner.com/

Frank Turner facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frankturnermusic

FULL CONCERT: An Evening with Dimmu Borgir (25th November 2011) Location: Manchester Academy 3, Manchester, UK

2011-11-27T23:33:00.080Z

After my previous post reviewing Dimmu Borgir’s amazing gig at the Manchester Academy 3, I decided to post here the full concert for all of those interested in seeing it.

Credits due to SamTronowar, who spent the entire concert with a cam in his hand filming it so that others like me and you could enjoy it afterwards. Metal up, you guys!! Here we go…

Dimmu Borgir Live part 1 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 2 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 3 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 4 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 5 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 6 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 7 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 8 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 9 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 10 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

Dimmu Borgir Live part 11 of 11@ Manchester Academy 3 (25-11-11)

First Set

Mourning Palace

Spellbound (By the Devil)

In Death's Embrace

Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh

The Night Masquerade

Tormentor of Christian Souls

Entrance

Master of Disharmony

Prudence's Fall

A Succubus in Rapture

Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde

Second Set

Drum Solo

Vredesbyrd

Kings of the Carnival Creation

Dimmu Borgir

Ritualist

Gateways

Puritania

Encore

The Serpentine Offering

Progenies of the Great Apocalypse

Perfection or Vanity (outro)

An Evening with Dimmu Borgir (25th November 2011) Location: Manchester Academy 3, Manchester, UK

2011-11-27T16:28:00.200Z

When walking into the Manchester Academy 3, with a capacity for just around 450 people, I couldn’t believe I was about to see Dimmu Borgir, arguably the biggest international black metal band, in this very small venue.

This tour was titled “An Evening with Dimmu Borgir” - 2 Dimmu Borgir sets without any support act. On the first set the band was going to play an entire album voted on before the tour by fans and the second being a selection from the Dimmu Borgir catalogue. The album which won the vote was the 1997’s “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant”.

The crowd roared with enthusiasm when the opening notes from “Mourning Palace” played over the PA. This level of enjoyment remained throughout the night. There was a certain sinister atmosphere in the venue, created not only by the music but by the lights and smoke.

Mourning Palace (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

In between and during songs there was a lot of crowd interaction, with Shagrath wanting to see a lot of horns thrown in the air, something which the crowd had no trouble doing. “Raabjorn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde” was the final song of the first set. Shagrath declared the evening to be a celebration towards the 14 year old “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” album, and what a celebration it was. It was dark, sinister and filled with head-banging. And we still had the second set coming.

Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

The second set began following a brief interval. It started with a drum solo from Daray and the rest of the band returned to the stage for “Vredesbyrd”, followed by the immense “Kings of the Carnival Creation” which truly was one of the highlights of the second set. We were treated then to 3 songs from the new album “Abrahadabra” . The new songs “Dimmu Borgir”, “Ritualist” and “Gateways” were well received but without the same enthusiasm as the older songs. “Gateways” was great, but lacked the physical presence of a female backing vocal (a recorded voice doesn’t do the trick for me). The set then finished with the powerful “Puritania”. During “Puritania”, almost every person in the room was banging their head.

Puritania (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

Dimmu Borgir left the stage but the crowd wanted more. We didn't wait for long and it only took a few minutes for the band to be on stage again. They closed the night with an encore consisting of two brutal songs, “The Serpentine Offering” and “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse”, which was a stunning end to the evening.

Progenies of the Great Apocalypse/Perfection or Vanity (outro) (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

A special night with a superb performance and set list from Dimmu Borgir. I really feel this tour has benefited from being in smaller venues. The intensity coming from the band combined with the intimacy of the venue and the almost demonic atmosphere created a stunning show. It was really a great gig, a celebration of Metal in one of its purest forms. Even with all the numerous line-up changes over the years, Dimmu Borgir continues to be a force to be reckon, but I do miss Vortex’s clean vocals...

After the show, I got a guitar pick from Cyrus and a DVD booklet signed by all the band members. Nice!!

First Set

Mourning Palace

Spellbound (By the Devil)

In Death's Embrace

Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh

The Night Masquerade

Tormentor of Christian Souls

Entrance

Master of Disharmony

Prudence's Fall

A Succubus in Rapture

Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde

Second Set

Drum Solo

Vredesbyrd

Kings of the Carnival Creation

Dimmu Borgir

Ritualist

Gateways

Puritania

Encore

The Serpentine Offering

Progenies of the Great Apocalypse

Perfection or Vanity (outro)

Dimmu Borgir website: http://site.dimmu-borgir.com/

Dimmu Borgir myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dimmuborgir

Dimmu Borgir facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dimmuborgir

Metallica: Life and Death

2011-11-23T16:56:00.000Z

Let’s picture Metallica as an entity that appeared in this world, and let’s check all its phases whilst among us:

"Kill 'Em All" - An entity is born.

“Ride the Lightning” - Development of the entity into a Supreme Being.

“Master of Puppets” - The beast has arrived. The entity reveals itself as the beast she was born to be.

“Garage Days Re-Revisited” - The entity looks upon its past and what were its influences to achieve its own Supreme Being status.

“...And Justice for All” - The Supreme Being becomes aware of its greatness and celebrates it with a masterpiece.

“Metallica” - The Supreme Being decides to enjoy the pleasures of life, money and the mainstream.

“Load” - The Supreme Being discovers it is ill and starts its own demise/medication.

“ReLoad” - When was thought the illness couldn’t get any worse, the same medication was taken without any fruitful results.

“Garage Inc.” - The entity tries to look into its past, trying to find a glimpse of hope that can be used on its future.

“S&M” - The end of a cycle to the entity, trying to be a Supreme Being once again, this time with pompous and grandeur expectations, but it was all just dreams within its comatose state.

“St. Anger” - The electrical paddles were used by the doctor to revive the entity from its comatose state.

“Death Magnetic” - The revival was partially effective, and the entity is now trying to get up on its feet again. The next step will be crucial.

“Lulu” (with Lou Reed) - The entity dies and takes another one with it, but not before granting excruciating pain to all of those that heard its last breath.

Please check this very well written review to “Lulu”, to which I agree completely.

It seems Metallica are recording a new album at the moment.

Could it be the rebirth of a phoenix from its own ashes?

If I'm honest, I don't have much faith in it, but there is still a tiny bit of hope in me that wants me to be wrong...

Anna Calvi + Halloween, Alaska (14th November 2011) Location: Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, UK

2011-11-17T22:11:00.003Z

Currently there are more singer-songwriters than worth counting.
But what sets one apart from another?
Someone with emotion, unique style and who can leave an audience speechless? Anna Calvi played at the Manchester Cathedral last Monday, and showed us exactly why she stands out above others.

But before Anna Calvi took the stage we saw her support act, the band Halloween, Alaska.

Halloween, Alaska

Halloween, Alaska are all into subverting the established rock/pop’s conventions in their pursuit of evocative moods and themes. By subverting those conventions they are inevitably both embracing and potentially alienating new audiences. If you’re inclined towards albums of existential introspections, mixed with the isolationist glacial grandeur of Sigur Rós and frissons of confessional Coldplay then you’ll be a happy chap listening to this band.

In my case I had mixed feelings…
I love Sigur Rós, but I can't be bothered with existential introspections, and I’ve always been a little bit indifferent to Coldplay, so I was enjoying the ambience music Halloween, Alaska were creating on stage but thinking that from time to time it was all way too much. All seemed to be too nerdy and too much effort was being put in not following the rules of rock-pop conventions.

Their music is nothing more than a psyche-rock that fills up the space. Good musicians with a spot-on singer but at times the sound seemed a bit too saturated and heavy with percussion.

They need to put aside their fear of going mainstream and start assembling their ideas properly. Then they will be able to make recognizable songs. I enjoyed their concert and the ambient they are able to create live but I’m not able to recognize any of their songs even if I heard it right after the concert.

Halloween, Alaska website: http://www.halloweenalaska.com/

Halloween, Alaska myspace: http://www.myspace.com/halloweenalaska

Halloween, Alaska facebook: http://www.facebook.com/halloweenalaska

Anna Calvi

Calvi's first and only album until now combines her big and amazing voice with lusty blues guitar, sparse rhythms with tumultuous climaxes, and on stage her songs just become even more majestic. It's impossible not to be seduced by Calvi whilst watching her on stage.

Manchester Cathedral was perfect for Anna Calvi with the natural acoustic atmosphere that only a place of worship can give you. And worship was what was given to her by the audience waiting to receive Calvi’s prayers on stage. She walked into the light wearing her trademark red shirt and high heels with her hair brushed back into a ponytail. No doubt she has an empowering and dominant presence on stage.

Do you still remember that first time you heard the psychedelic, Led Zeppelin guitar style in the opening chords of “Mojo Pin” on Jeff Buckley’s debut album “Grace”? Keep that it in mind.

Do you still have that Jeff Buckley's guitar intro in your head?

That’s the rush we felt as Anna Calvi played the first few notes of “Rider To The Sea”.

She took hold of the crowd in the palm of her hand, owning and controlling the room. Everyone’s eyes were on her. Her fingers on the frets were hypnotising as she squeezed and caressed her guitar again and again, not missing a single note, plucking and feeling her way through shivery chords with an immense sensuality.

Anna was accompanied by two other musicians who added the perfect harmonies to Calvi’s already perfect songs. Mally Harpaz added to the drama with spine-tingling percussion, while drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood added low, moaning harmonies to Calvi's operatic cries.

The almost unbearable intimacy was made even more intense when she sang. Her voice trembled with vulnerability on “No More Words” and the aching need of “First We Kiss” hold the crowd in a silent trance of attention, whilst the desire-fuelled “The Devil” scared the crowd silly.

Anna Calvi - I'll Be Your Man (live Manchester Cathedral, 14-11-2011)

The lighting in the Cathedral on Monday night was very dark and atmospheric. Here and there small glimpses of light would enhance Calvi's distinct cheekbones. She has an unusual look that captures the heart of the crowd. Even throughout all the performance no one spoke a word. She’s without a doubt immensely captivating.

With a voice almost pitch-similar to Shirley Bassey, she howled through her already anthem, “Suzanne And I”, almost to the point of straining her vocal chords. Contrastingly, Calvi almost whispered through “No More Words”. You could hear a needle dropping in the echoes of the cathedral, but all eyes were on Anna whispering seductively into the microphone.

Anna Calvi - Morning Light (live Manchester Cathedral, 15-11-2011)

Anna Calvi has an extremely strong operatic style voice, and she pushed it to the limit, as if to reach out to the back of the hall. In her setlist, Anna Calvi included a cover of Elvis Presley’s ”Surrender”.

Anna Calvi - "Surrender" (live Manchester Cathedral, 14-11-11)

The last song of the set “Love Won’t Be Leaving” was one of the highlights of the night, with at least a minute long solo in the middle in which Calvi shreds and stuns the audience, as she stares towards the roof, eyes closed whilst her fingers do the work leaving the crowd screaming and clapping for more.

Her encore of Edith Piaf's “Jezebel” was another great moment of the night.

I just stood there watching and hearing this amazing version and couldn’t help comparing her to other artists. One thing we can say about this truly talented woman is that her music is timeless. Unlike other female singer-songwriters, her music does not belong in any particular era. She’s created this style that will be listened to over and over again for years. She embodies everything innovative and professional about an artist; I believe she’s one of the only truly original and awe-inspiring solo artists in the music industry today. She’ll be one to push boundaries in the future, and she’s certainly shown that to Manchester last Monday night.

Anna Calvi - "Jezebel" (live Manchester Cathedral, 14-11-2011)

After the show, we stick around a little bit longer and we were fortunate enough to talk a little bit with Anna Calvi, get a picture taken with her and have our CD autographed. It was very nice of her and we couldn’t thank her enough.

Anna Calvi website: http://annacalvi.com/

Anna Calvi myspace: http://www.myspace.com/annacalvi

Anna Calvi facebook: http://www.facebook.com/annacalvi

Video Credits to orezlyrad and cassandraontheweb

“Globalização ou Colonização Moderna???” Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-11-11T12:28:00.001Z

Vão longe os séculos em que existia o feudalismo com o senhor feudal a dominar os plebeus que para ele trabalhavam na área do seu feudo. Mais tarde, depois de os portugueses, com os descobrimentos darem o primeiro passo na globalização, criando laços entre as gentes de todos os continentes, os europeus, a pretexto de levarem a sua religião e a sua civilização aos povos distantes, foram em busca de riquezas naturais e criaram as colónias, às quais impunham uma organização administrativa de estilo ocidental, contrariando sem contemplação as velhas tradições locais.

Criaram-se depois as democracias, como panaceia que traria a felicidade a todos com igualdade, liberdade (impossível de coexistir com a igualdade que, sendo imposta, coíbe a liberdade de ser diferente) e fraternidade. Cedo as guilhotinas condenaram os que teimavam em usar a liberdade de não serem iguais. Com esses contra-sensos, a democracia moderna nasceu doente.

Mas os povos foram coexistindo com mais ou menos guerras, mais ou menos violentas e, para lhes domar os impulsos, surgiram organizações diversas que, depressa, esqueceram a ideia dos objectivos e dos condicionamentos que estiveram na sua origem e nos seus propósitos. E vemos uma ONU a tergiversar e entrar em incoerências, como aqui tem sido frequentemente sublinhado, e uma União Europeia em vias de se auto-amputar por não saber dar continuidade ao objectivo que presidiu à sua criação. Mas, por outro lado, vemos o G20 que é formado pelos países mais ricos do planeta (cerca de 10% do total dos Estados independentes, soberanos) a imporem soluções para a gestão da Europa e do Mundo, colonizando os restantes 90%, que não são tidos nem havidos para as grandes decisões que a todos obrigam.

Mesmo no pequeno espaço da União Europeia, vemos o poder combinado e concertado da Alemanha e da França que vão preparando as soluções que mais lhes convêm, para toda a UE, falando-se já na provável exclusão do Euro dos países do Sul e da Irlanda. Realça-se que o bom entendimento entre a Alemanha e a França é positivo pois a falte dele já deu origem a diversas guerras das quais se salientam, por serem as mais recentes, a 1ª e a 2ª Guerras Mundiais. Mas o seu bom relacionamento não lhes deve dar o direito de colonizarem todos ao restantes membros da União.

Mas além do G20, há também o G8, outra forma de encarar o domínio de todos por uma minoria colonizadora ou feudal. Democracia muito estranha esta em que nada se faz para se aproximar da igualdade de todos os seus componentes. E é estranho que, em oposição aos grupos mais poderosos, não se formem grupos dos mais pobres, não para se baterem em duelo, tão dispares são as suas capacidades, mas para contribuírem para a análise dos problemas que a todos afligem e levar os poderosos a ter em consideração as condições dos mais pobres, a fim de não os exterminarem. Há que não esquecer que nos 90% dos seres humanos há volumosa quantidade de mão-de-obra e de consumidores, sem o que as indústrias dos 10% mais ricos não podem continuar a funcionar.

É preciso fraternidade entre todos os Estados, com respeito mútuo que se afirme em todas as decisões que afectem mais do que um Estado, o que obriga a não menosprezar os menos dotados de riquezas. Nisso, como na vida interna dos Países, o diálogo construtivo é fundamental e nada o pode substituir.

Autoria: A. João Soares

Crónica retirada daqui

Kate Walsh + Jo Rose (10th November 2011) Location: Band On The Wall, Manchester, UK

2011-11-11T09:28:00.189Z

Kate Walsh is one of those underrated artists that the world should give more attention to instead of wasting time with factory made wannabe artists.

She is an example of an artist who skipped the traditional label publicity machine, and rose to popularity on iTunes. Her self-made second album, “Tim’s House”, rose to #1 on the UK iTunes store.

Her music is characterized by her beautiful voice and life caressing vocals.
She is an artist who takes you away from the rush and madness of the world. Her music has a timeless quality that scares away all the negativity and nervous itches that we accumulate on our stressed lives.

But firstly let’s check her support act, Jo Rose.

Jo Rose

Jo brought us some beautiful bluesy folk tunes from his own pen and provide us also with some excellent covers. His style of song writing is in-between Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and definitely his voice reminds me of Neil Young’s “Harvest" and "Harvest Moon” phase.

A nice and respectful audience provided an excellent ambient to hear these quite, melodic and introspective songs (and once again, Band On The Wall was acoustically perfect – praises to the sound engineer as usual).

Jo Rose website: http://joroseblog.tumblr.com/
Jo Rose myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thisisjorose
Jo Rose facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jo-Rose/96089102082

Jo Rose (live at Band On The Wall, Manchester, 10-11-2011)

Kate Walsh

Kate’s concert was a quiet, thought and introspective one. A collection of excellent songs played out from the heart, in an equally excellent venue with a small but entranced audience of around 40 people.

Kate changed between the acoustic guitar and the piano, and was accompanied by a cello player who gave even more depth and melodic twists to songs that are already so peaceful and beautiful.

A stripped down ambience contributed to a beautiful set, covering songs predominantly from her latest release “The Real Thing”, supported by introspective favourites from “Light and Dark”, “Tim's House” and her album of covers “Peppermint Radio”.

Kate Walsh - Seafarer (live at Band On The Wall, Manchester, 10-11-2011)

Kate Walsh - Le Jardinier (live at Band On The Wall, Manchester, 10-11-2011)

Kate is a really honest and sweet person and that honesty and sweetness transpires on her songs and on her live performances. Kate bares it all in front of you: her soul, love and dedication to music are there for all to see. You sort of become her personal confidante and closest friend. There is no way to escape her touch in your heart.

Kate Walsh - The Real Thing (live at Band On The Wall, Manchester, 10-11-2011)

After the show we were able to have a quick chat with her. She still remembered us from her previous show in Manchester last year! She was kind enough to autograph all our albums and also to take a picture with us.
Thank you so much for the patient and dedication to your fans, lovely Kate.

Kate Walsh website: http://katewalsh.co.uk/

Kate Walsh myspace: http://www.myspace.com/katewalsh

Kate Walsh facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katewalshofficial

Kate Walsh - A Little Respect (live at Band On The Wall, Manchester, 10-11-2011)

Kate Walsh - Fireworks (live at Band On The Wall, Manchester, 10-11-2011)

Work In Progress: Rhod Gilbert (7th November 2011) Location: The Comedy Store, Manchester, UK

2011-11-09T13:57:00.027Z

Rhod Gilbert claims to have mellowed since his last tour, but his act still features gigantic rants and outbursts filled with rage which, thankfully, are very funny, even in a primitive form.

It’s an amazing pleasure to see a comedian starting from scratch and testing new material at smaller venues, and the audience at the Comedy Store on Monday seemed keen to encourage him.

This encouragement sometimes was way over the top (this is for the guy seating next to me - YES, you with the loud and stupid laugh).

Comedians use this kind of shows to check what jokes work and which don’t. If you are going to laugh even in moments of silence or in any other “fart” that comes up from the stage, you are not really helping…

Well, ranting aside, let’s talk about Rhod’s new material.

After a hesitant start in which Rhod apologised for being a bit late - due to the fact that Comedy Store was waiting for 2 groups of spectators that were late because they were stuck on traffic (Rhod decided to get on stage when informed they were 2 groups of 2 people!), he soon relaxed into the basis of his new show – how his life has changed since he started keeping an anger management diary.

It’s a strong basis, allowing him to vent his frustrations with patronising advertising, useless technology and rail travel, before sitting down and reading extracts from the diary, comprising of hilarious Kafka-esque conversations with salespeople about unnecessary vegetable packaging or toothbrushes with built-in computers.

Here's a little preview of his new material...

Rhod assured the crowd “through this process, it will get funny. But not in time for tonight”, but he didn’t need to worry, as even the bare foundations of the show were consistently funny and enjoyable, and the misadventures he had with an electrician sat alongside bemused reactions to “considerate builders”, in an act that ran for more than 90 minutes but never dragged.

It will be interesting to see what makes the final cut, but even at this early stage the show looks like it should be a winner.

As a special treat we were able to speak a little bit with Rhod at the end of the show, have a picture taken and ask him for an autograph.

Off stage he is really shy and looks like a deer in headlights (lost and confused). Rhod still can’t live in the real world!!

Tori Amos (4th November 2011) Location: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, UK

2011-11-06T12:44:00.206Z

For as long as I can remember that I’ve been waiting to see Tori Amos playing live and finally I had the opportunity to do so. For those that were lucky enough or smart enough to get tickets for this concert in the Manchester Apollo, they were treated to a spectacle that only Tori can deliver in what must be said, outstanding and peculiar style.

With a career stretching back to the late 80’s, Tori has refined her image and her song writing so many times that each album holds a special place in her fans’ hearts and the same can be said for each particular gig.

Opening her night at the Apollo with tracks such as “Scarborough Fair”, the spine-tingling “Velvet Revolution“ and the evocative “Leather”, Tori captivated the audience with her use of the excellent Apollon Musagète String Quartet that added an extra dimension to her own superb piano playing.

The addition of this string quartet brings the shows closer to the spirit of a classical recital than that of a traditional pop-rock show.

Tori Amos - Doughnut Song (live O2 Apollo, Manchester, 04-11-2011)

Tori spent an exhilarating couple of hours on the Apollo’s stage and even when her in-ear monitor disconnected itself and she couldn’t hear herself play, she continued and thrilled the fans with a hilarious improvisation about how she punishes herself for making mistakes during shows. This sort of thing is what separates the true artists from the “fake ones” who would have just stopped the show so that the problem could be fixed. Tori showed us that sometimes the best thing to do is just carry on and get over the misfortune.

Tori Amos WTF improvisation (live O2 Apollo, Manchester, 04-11-2011)

Tracks such as the powerful “Winter” strengthened by the strings is an experience out of this world and the incredible “Mr. Zebra” and the blissful rendition of “Hey Jupiter” reinforced the notion that Tori Amos is one of the most unique and emotionally fuelled performers to have thrilled an audience.

Tori Amos - Winter (live O2 Apollo, Manchester, 04-11-2011)

“Cruel” sees the string section playing riffs away aggressively, and the electronic heart of “Suede'' finds itself replaced by a beat from slapped violin strings.

There was time for some covers (a brief fragment of Simon & Garfunkel‘s “Scarborough Fair” and a breathtaking version of The Cure's “Lovesong”), complete obscurities taken from B-Sides or Soundtracks (“Apollo's Frock” ,”Take Me With You” and “Carnival”) and for a few songs from the new album “Night Of Hunters” like “Shattering Sea” and “Star Whisperer”.

Tori Amos - Lovesong (live O2 Apollo, Manchester, 04-11-2011)

Tori Amos finished a powerful and emotional set with a couple of stunning encores which included the long awaited “Precious Things” and the dramatic “Big Wheel”.

Tori Amos - Precious Things (live O2 Apollo, Manchester, 04-11-2011)

Tori Amos - Big Wheel (live O2 Apollo, Manchester, 04-11-2011)

This concert was a complete triumph and one of the best shows I’ve seen this year. The string quartet breathes new life into songs that had perhaps become over familiar with time, while the solo sections allowed Tori to go where the mood took her. It was an amazing and fascinating concert and an experience to repeat whenever possible.

Setlist

Shattering Sea

Scarborough Fair (Simon & Garfunkel cover)

Suede

Velvet Revolution

Leather

Fearlessness

Doughnut Song

Take Me With You

Mr. Zebra

Winter

Cloud On My Tongue

Star Whisperer

Carnival

Apollo's Frock

Lovesong (The Cure cover)

Your Ghost

Hey Jupiter

Siren

Cruel

Encore

A Multitude of Shades

Precious Things

Encore 2

Carry

Spark

Big Wheel

Tori Amos website: http://www.toriamos.com/

Tori Amos facebook: http://www.facebook.com/toriamos

The Euro-zone crisis and the new bailout for Greece. Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-11-03T15:38:00.000Z

I find appalling that most, if not all, views expressed all over the media and on meeting rooms across the world did not touch in any way the dangers of political and social instability as a result of a tough and arrogant economical austerity package which this agreed European bailout will entail in Greece (and also Portugal).

I find also incredible the total lack of competent economical insights. It is scaring that some people do not understand the difference between staying out of the Euro-Zone on a transitional basis, and pulling out of the European Union altogether. One thing has nothing to do with the other!

New European members are not yet in the Euro-Zone, but they are indeed part of the European Union. Britain is outside the Euro-zone, but is indeed a leading member estate in the European Union!

It is not advisable for Greece alone to come out of the Euro-Zone and to reinstate a weak currency such as the Drachma, nor is it advisable for any other member estate to pull out unilaterally, or independently. The reason is quite simple, but not obvious to most of the so-called "economic experts":

Any small country with a weak currency will become an easy prey for market speculators inasmuch as these governments will try to boost their exports and keep their currencies devaluated. That will be a very appetising table for the financial speculators, not to mention their currency volatility generally speaking.

Therefore, the only and advisable way ahead for countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland (and perhaps even Italy), is the adoption of a second rank euro currency. A currency with that leverage will be erosion-galvanised, and will be provided with a large stability. Nations, such as Portugal and Greece (especially) import a huge proportion of the goods they consume domestically (Portugal alone imports 86% of all goods it domestically consumes!). Once these countries had a secondary sector which was relatively strong, and also their primary sector played a key role in their economies, but these estates became nations of waiters, in restaurants and hotels! That cannot continue! Countries must diversify their economies. And the only way is by having a favourable currency.

At the moment it is impossible for Portugal or Greece to improve significantly their exports. The austerity packages set up now in Portugal will have vast and atrocious social implications. Economically these packages will not bring any prosperity in the foreseeable future. Economics is not a deterministic science; there are infinite, indeed unfathomable, sets of factors which may deem these austerity packages absolutely inglorious with time. It is not acceptable to penalise a large proportion of our societies because of economical follies and fixations to appease the financial sector (a sector which brought us to this abysmal chaos in the first place).

Finally, we all must understand the objectives and expectations of France and Germany for the Euro are surely distinct. These European partners are exporters of a class of exclusive goods (automobiles, turbines, planes, weapons, chemicals, etc) which favour the high value of the currency they trade in (Angela Merkel recently said publically ..."we must keep the euro strong and well valued at any cost"). One single container of French or German precious high-tech products will pay off 100 containers of Chinese goods. The same does not apply to other like-to-be European exporters.

Arctic Monkeys + The Vaccines (2nd November 2011) Location: M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, UK

2011-11-03T12:42:00.311Z

This could have been a night to remember but due to the fact that this show was going to be held on the M.E.N. Arena, I was deeply afraid and beware of the fact that the bad acoustic of this place would subdue the geniality of these bands. Well, I was right, the geniality was there but the bad acoustic didn’t let the bands go that extra mile.

The Vaccines

The Vaccines have several catchy and well written songs.

They gave a competent gig to warm up the crowd for the Arctic Monkeys. Songs like “Post Break-Up Sex” and “If You Wanna” were huge and it was a pity the sound wasn’t a little bit better.

The PA prepared for the Arctic Monkeys and not for The Vaccines, combined with the M.E.N. Arena characteristics didn’t do any good for their gig. Muffled sound with the singer’s voice lost amidst the guitar riffs. I need to see them on their own show and definitely in another venue.

The Vaccines - Post Break-up Sex (live MEN Arena, Manchester, 02-11-11)

Setlist

Intro (Rock'n Roll Radio)

Blow It Up

Post Break-Up Sex

Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)

A Lack of Understanding

Wetsuit

Under Your Thumb

Tiger Blood

All In White

Wolf Pack

If You Wanna

Nørgaard

The Vaccines website: http://www.thevaccines.co.uk/

The Vaccines facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thevaccines

The Vaccines myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thevaccines

Arctic Monkeys

Looking as a young and thin Elvis Presley, with a Grease-style hair-do, Alex Turner and his Arctic Monkeys rocked the house at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

The Sheffield band has indeed matured since their early days but as they entered the stage to Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing”, we all knew what we were going to get an evening of pure, rude and heavy indie-rock.

The first three songs came like a kick in the balls as they opened with “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”, “Teddy Picker” and “Crying Lightning”. Just a magnificent start. Total delivery on stage by the lads but such a pity this arena doesn’t deserve their effort. Awful acoustics as usual, but nevertheless, the Monkeys gave us a portentous gig.

Arctic Monkeys - Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair (live MEN Arena, Manchester, 02-11-11)

Arctic Monkeys - Teddy Picker (live MEN Arena, Manchester, 02-11-11)

The crowd gave the biggest cheers of the evening when they played “The View From The Afternoon” and “When The Sun Goes Down” – both tracks from their debut album, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”.

Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down (live MEN Arena, Manchester, 02-11-11)

After a small interlude in the middle of the set in which Turner was trying to determine which side of the arena was loudest, the Sheffield poets blasted out a few crowd favourites such as “I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor” and the dark “Do Me A Favour”.

Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (live MEN Arena, Manchester, 02-11-11)

For the encore, the Arctic Monkeys gave us the remarkable “Suck It And See", an amazing version of “Mardy Bum” and ended the show with an excellent rendition of “505”.

A very good set list, mixing old classics with the new songs, exquisite vocals from Alex and with full dedication on stage by the entire band. When the Arctic Monkeys take to the stage, there's nothing lazy or complacent about their act - they mean business! The Arctic Monkeys delivered an absolutely amazing performance, most likely the best live band in the UK at the moment.

With a 21-song set list, we definitely got value for our money, even with the gig being at the M.E.N. Arena… (Yeah, I think that by now everyone that reads my blog will know that I’m starting to hate this venue).

Setlist

Intro ("You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate)

Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair

Teddy Picker

Crying Lightning

The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala

Black Treacle

Brianstorm

The View From The Afternoon

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Evil Twin

Brick by Brick

Pretty Visitors

This House Is A Circus

Still Take You Home

Dance Little Liar

She's Thunderstorms

Fluorescent Adolescent

Do Me A Favour

When The Sun Goes Down

Encore

Suck It and See

Mardy Bum (alternative live version)

505

Arctic Monkeys website: http://arcticmonkeys.com/

Arctic Monkeys facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ArcticMonkeys

Arctic Monkeys myspace: http://www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys

“Governo desistiu do País e quer que os portugueses façam o mesmo” Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-11-02T12:58:00.000Z

Mesmo tendo, como deve ter, um posicionamento político e ideológico determinado,um colunista deve usar da boa fé e da racionalidade para analisar o comportamento de um governo. Concentrar-se nos propósitos de cada medida e nas suas consequências. E partir do princípio de quem toma as decisões está genuinamente convencido que elas são as melhores possíveis para o País. E explicar, quando seja essa a sua opinião, que ou os objetivos estão errados ou as suas consequências serão diferentes do que se espera.

Duas excepções a esta linha de conduta: quando os governantes são corruptos ou imbecis.
As motivações dos primeiros não merecem respeito, o sentido de cada decisão tomada dos segundos é inexistente. Neste caso, o trabalho de quem faz análise política, sobretudo quando é ideologicamente empenhado, fica muito mais desinteressante. Para a corrupção não há qualquer resposta a não ser a indignação. Para a imbecilidade não há qualquer reação possível para além de um suspiro e um encolher de ombros.

Como sou obrigado a partir do princípio de que, até prova em contrário, este governo não se move pela corrupção, tenho de concluir que somos dirigidos por idiotas. Porque nenhuma explicação racional pode ser dada ao discurso que o secretário de Estado da Juventude e do Desporto fez em São Paulo. Perante a crise, tem um conselho a dar aos jovens portugueses: que emigrem. "Se estamos no desemprego, temos de sair da zona de conforto e ir para além das nossas fronteiras", disse. Porque, afirmou, voltará´do estrangeiro melhor profissional. Se alguma vez voltar, claro está.

Um pai pode, com tristeza, dizer isto a um filho. Um cidadão pode dar este conselho a um amigo. Mas um governante não pode dizer isto a um jovem. Porque é algum pecado emigrar? Claro que não. Porque, para além do governante assumir a sua própria derrota logo à partida, está a prejudicar o País. A emigração, sendo em geral positiva para os países de acolhimento, é, também em geral, péssima para os países em dificuldades. Sobretudo quando essa emigração é de jovens quadros. O País perde, nesses momentos, os mais competentes, os mais preparados e, já agora, aqueles em quem investiu recursos para garantir o seu futuro. É como uma empresa dizer aos seus melhores profissionais, que andou a formar durante anos, para irem trabalhar para outro lado. O que concluímos? Que a empresa vai fechar as portas. Acontece que, ao contrário das empresas, os países continuam por piores que sejam os que o dirigem.

O problema deste governo é que, sabendo que não tem qualquer saída para esta crise, optou pelo "niilismo" político. O derrotismo e a desistência é a única coisa que tem para oferecer aos cidadãos. Quando o primeiro-ministro diz que o País tem de empobrecer e um secretário de Estado manda os seus jovens ir embora só podemos tirar uma conclusão: que não só são inúteis como têm plena consciência disso mesmo. E se sabem que são inúteis, deem lugar a outros. Em vez de irem embora os jovens, vão aqueles que nada querem fazer por eles. Talvez noutro lado qualquer aprendam qualquer coisa. E, mesmo assim, não fazemos questão que regressem.

Autoria: Daniel Oliveira

Crónica retirada daqui

“Good” (28th October 2011) Location: Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, UK

2011-10-30T12:12:00.076Z

Once again I won some tickets for a show (when will I win the Euromillions?? I wish…).

This time I won some tickets to see a concert from Dagmar Krause, but due to illness it was cancelled. As compensation, I was offered tickets to see C P Taylor’s 1981 play “Good” staged on the Royal Exchange Theatre by Polly Findlay.

“Good” tries to explain how a harmless German academic finds himself reluctantly caught up in Hitler’s rise to power, and how he unsuspectingly becomes an instrument in the atrocities at Auschwitz.

John Halder (Adrian Rawlins) is a devoted family man who teaches German literature, hates the Nazis and whose best friend is a Jewish doctor. In 1933 he can’t believe that the new National Socialist government will be able to implement its outrageous policies. Meanwhile his home life is disrupted by his needy, neurotic wife and a blind mother with dementia; and at work he’s distracted by an attractive blonde student who can’t see the relevance of Goethe’s Faust.

John tries to be good but is torn between conflicting interests, not least his own desire for an easier life. He tries to comfort his Jewish friend Maurice although he won’t help him; he loves his musical wife but abandons her for the charms of the pretty blonde; he wants to help his disabled mother but hasn’t the patience to care for her properly.

John’s sense of chaos is mimicked by overlapping scenes, by his confidential asides to the audience, and by frequent interruptions from a troupe of invisible singers and musicians. Jazz standards, operatic arias and religious cantatas pop out at him from drawers, handbags and coffee pots wherever he goes.

Adrian Rawlins’ Professor Halder is a typical unkempt intellectual, weak but well-meaning – however his selfishness and vanity allow him to be seduced firstly by the lovely young Anne (Beth Park) and later by the Nazis and their smart SS uniform.

The entire play revolves around John but he risks being overshadowed whenever Kerry Shale’s charismatic, caustic and comical Maurice takes to the stage. In fact the entire cast excels, with most of them playing several characters as well as a variety of musical instruments.

Polly Findlay's production for the Royal Exchange gets across the chaotic, dreamlike structure of the piece, bringing out both the humour and the darkness in the play. It is about asking whether good people can be persuaded to do very bad things. It turns to those of us who condemn what the Nazis did and asks whether we can truly say that our actions would have been radically different from the thousands of people who were as "good" as we believe ourselves to be or whether we would have had the courage to swim against the prevailing tide.

On the surface, this is a very dark comedy, but concealed beneath is something rather more complex that questions how we view ourselves and others as human beings. This play quite easily makes us think and leads us to an uncertain limbo where moral choices could conflict with our instincts for survival.

For a complex play it turns out the answers are quite simple: be nice to other people, and Nazis really are nasty. This staging of “Good” is a very talented production of an absorbing modern classic.

Brett Anderson + The Cold One Hundred (11th October 2011) Location: Manchester Academy Club, Manchester, UK

2011-10-25T20:26:00.001+01:00

It was another incredible night out for a live show, and this time offered by one of the best performers of my generation, if not the best of them all.

Brett Anderson is basically a stage animal and he puts loads of younger singers to shame with his performances on stage.

But before Brett Anderson’s gig, we checked out his supporting band, The Cold One Hundred.

The Cold One Hundred

Never heard anything from this Manchester based band until the moment they started playing and it was a good surprise. A combination between good players and a charismatic singer (a mixture between Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey and Brandon Flowers) are just enough to make their indie-rock songs interesting enough and worth a listening.

The Smiths and Morrissey’s influences are all there in plain sight, but the band has the wisdom of writing songs that are without any doubt pop but with substance enough not to be reminded just as another band who wants to be The Smiths.

This gig has shown that, given space to develop, these lads will find themselves performing to bigger audiences in the near future.

The Cold One Hundred website: http://thecoldonehundred.com/
The Cold One Hundred myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thecoldonehundred
The Cold One Hundred facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thecoldonehundred

Brett Anderson

Truth has to be said: I’d never seen someone deliver so much in a gig.

After his previous melodic and quite solo albums, Brett decided it was time for something more up-tempo and the new one “Black Rainbows” is the closest he ever got to the Suede albums in his solo career.
And by the look of it, Brett was eager to get his show on the road, once again with a supporting band instead of just him and a piano.

There was no time for nostalgia, and none of the Suede’s songs were revisited on this show. This was about Brett’s solo career and not his iconic and worldwide famous band.

The gig started with the song “Unsung”, which is also the first song on the new album’s line up, and it was an impressive start to the night.

Around the fourth song, “Actors”, the set just begins to sound better and better and seems somehow to be getting louder as Anderson gets sweatier and sweatier, for the pleasure of the female crowd. The years don’t seem to have cooled Anderson much as he goes through the whole “Black Rainbows” album with an energy that would make musicians half his age feel ashamed, and I’m reminded of what a brilliant front man he is and always have been.

This was followed with some other amazing songs like “The Hunted” (beautiful song indeed) or ”The Empress”. “This Must Be Where It Ends” was one of the highlights of the show with its weeping guitar riff (sorry about the poor sound quality on the video below).

Brett Anderson - This Must Be Where It Ends (live Club Academy, Manchester, 11-10-2011)

During “Thin Men Dancing”, the singer jumping onto and balancing himself on the venue’s PA equipment as he sings out the catchy chorus line: “Are we like shadows, we’ll be like shadows”.

The last song of the set was Anderson’s latest single “Brittle Heart” which really got the crowd moving.

Brett Anderson - Brittle Heart (live Club Academy, Manchester, 11-10-2011)

After a short break the band were back for an encore with Anderson behind the piano.

Despite announcing: “You will now lose all respect for me as a musician as I try to play,” he flawlessly played through the encore which included the superb “A Different Place”. The concert ended with a noisy, chaotic finale in the form of “Funeral Mantra” from the album “Wilderness”.

Amazing gig by an amazing singer/performer backed up by brilliant musicians. This was a night to remember, for sure.

Setlist

Unsung

Wheatfields

The Exiles

Actors

Crash About To Happen

The Hunted

Ashes Of Us

This Must Be Where It Ends

Thin Men Dancing

Possession

House Of Numbers

Julian's Eyes

The Swans

Brittle Heart

Encore

Leave Me Sleeping

A Different Place

Funeral Mantra

Brett Anderson website: http://www.brettanderson.co.uk/

Brett Anderson facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BrettAndersonHQ

"O mais deprimente deste OE é saber que é demasiado optimista" Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-10-18T11:45:00.000+01:00

Há muito por onde pegar, mas ficam estas duas notas iniciais:

1- Com os nosso principais mercados exportadores estagnados (Alemanha) ou em contracção (Espanha), o Governo prevê um aumento das exportações de 4,8%;

2- Em 2011, o produto contrai 1,9% e o desemprego cresce 1,5 pontos percentuais, mas em 2012 o produto cai 2,8% e o desemprego só aumenta 1 ponto percentual (o governo deve estar a prever emigração maciça).

Lá para Abril, se entretanto o céu não cair sobre as nossas cabeças, temos novo pacote de austeridade.

Autoria: Nuno Teles.

Crónica retirada daqui

The Indecent + Stella Marconi + Kirsty Almeida (30th September 2011) Location: Manchester Academy 3, Manchester, UK

2011-10-02T13:55:00.155+01:00

A friend of mine got free tickets to see this show and invite me along. Besides Kirsty Almeida, I never heard anything about the other 2 bands, so it was going to be a complete surprise.

The Indecent

The Indecent are an American teenage grunge band who just signed with a record label and are now touring to get some exposition and hopefully to gain their own personality. I have to say that to see teenagers playing grunge is kinda strange and disturbing, taking into account that they were around 2 years old when Cobain "committed suicide"...

Their sound is not that bad, but the influences are all over the place. From Nirvana and L7 to Patti Smith and Sonic Youth, all is there so evident that we can even play a game called “spot the influence”. The Indecent have some competent musicians on their ranks and a very charismatic female vocalist. If they can grab all their references and make them their own, there might be something here. They still have space and time to improve, since the age of these guys are around 17. We’ll check on them in a few years time.

Thinking about it, if the return of grunge is going to wipe out all those fake sounding auto-tune-rock/emo bands that for some obscure reason seem to thrive these days, that's probably not so bad.

The Indecent - "Lucky Ones" (live Manchester Academy 3, 30-09-11)

The Indecent myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theindecent

The Indecent facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theindecent

Stella Marconi

Stella Marconi are an unsigned local band that needs to evolve quite a bit to be considered as a potential candidate to mainstream success. They play a muscled indie rock but `there’s nothing there to grab your immediate attention or anything to put them in the spotlight.

The singer guitarist is well versed on the making of riffs but his vocals are just capable and in need of some coaching.

Best part of the band is their female drummer.

She is a very energetic drummer with loads of rhythm, and she’s not afraid of going the extra mile. When you think she is about to collapse, she just gets some energy pack from some hidden place and there she goes to the next song.

Biggest problem of this band: a mediocre bass player who thinks, most likely, that being in a band is all about the pose and attitude on stage. Well, he is not completely wrong: it is about pose and attitude, but backed up at least with a good technical performance. Awful and basic bass playing and out of tune vocals, especially when singing as the leading voice. Not good at all.

Recommendation to the band: If you want to make it in the music industry, get rid of this guy.

Stella Marconi - "Cult of Celebrity" (live Manchester Academy 3, 30-09-11)

Stella Marconi myspace: http://www.myspace.com/stellamarconi

Stella Marconi facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stellamarconi

Kirsty Almeida

Unfortunately, we arrived late and I didn’t get the opportunity to see Kirsty again. She was leaving the stage exactly on the moment we entered the venue. What a pity. For sure it was another great gig from this outstanding artist. Surely much better than the bands that were to follow…

Kirsty Almeida - "If You Can't Make Me Happy" (live Manchester Academy 3, 30-09-11)

Kirsty Almeida website: http://kirstyalmeida.co.uk/

Kirsty Almeida myspace: http://www.myspace.com/almeidagirl

Kirsty Almeida facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kirstyalmeida

XS Malarkey Comedy Club presents: Tom Stade, Chris Stokes, Andy Fury, Kiri Pritchard-McLean with the MC Toby Hadoke (13th September 2011) Location: The Frog & Bucket Comedy Club, Manchester, UK

2011-09-15T14:47:00.083+01:00

The XS Malarkey Comedy Club is located in Fallowfield but due to some circumstances (i.e. building work), the scheduled Tom Stade and supporters show was moved to The Frog & Bucket Comedy Club, which was great, because this venue is much more accessible to me than the XS Malarkey Comedy Club.

We were set for a good night of laughs and none of the stand-up comedians on the bill was a disappointment. Starting with the night’s MC Toby Hadoke and ending up with Tom Stade, with was a very enjoyable night out.

Toby Hadoke

Because I do not have any videos of the night itself, I leave you with some taken from the World Wide Web.

MC Toby Hadoke

“A Stand-Up comedian and promoter of Manchester's XS Malarkey club, for which he won the Chortle Award for best offstage contribution in 2008.”

Kiri

Kiri Pritchard-McLean

“Welsh comedienne Kiri Pritchard-McLean is not afraid to shock. If the audience gives her an inch she will take a mile. She normally shares her most embarrassing secrets and stories and she offers some surprisingly dark material. Winner of the C69 New Comedian of the Year 2010.”

Andy Fury

Andy Fury

“With a wonderful blend of self-deprecation, dark jokes and off the wall surrealism, the geordie Andy Fury became a comedian “out of sheer boredom” and we’re glad he did!”

Chris Stokes

“Mesmerisingly enjoyable and belly-laugh-funny. He requires an attention span but that's the case for any comedian with intelligence and depth. Third place in the Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year contest in 2009.”

Tom Stade

“Bought up in the backwoods of British Columbia Tom Stade earned his comedy stripes in Canada, where he recorded his own one-hour TV special “Stade And Confused” for the Comedy Network. Now largely based in the UK, he is a circuit stalwart who has appeared on stand-up shows “The Comedy Store”, “The Live Floor Show” and “The World Stands Up”. He made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2006 with the show “And Relax”.”

PJ Harvey (8th September 2011) Location: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, UK

2011-09-10T13:06:00.164+01:00

What a great concert. No gimmicks. Just pure, adult, in your face music created and played by some of the most genius composers around.

On the same week that PJ Harvey won the Mercury Music Prize for her latest album “Let England Shake”, I saw her live on the Manchester Apollo. PJ Harvey became the first artist to win the Mercury Prize twice in her career. The first time being over a decade ago for “Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea”.

Her first Mercury Prize was awarded on the night of the September 11 terrorist mayhem, and “Let England Shake” addresses Harvey’s views on the War on Terror and Britain's role in modern warfare. Oddly enough, she receives her second Mercury Prize on the 9/11’s 10th Anniversary.

As the lights went down and Harvey clutched her autoharp to her chest and in her inimitable way went from one evocative track to the next.

“Let England Shake” and “The Words That Maketh Murder” were every bit as memorable as classics such as “C’mon Billy” and “Down By The Water”. Stand out tracks from the new album “The Last Living Rose” and “The Big Guns Called Me Back” were even more affecting and distressing when performed live.

Let England Shake (live @ O2 Apollo, Manchester 8th Sep 2011)

The Words That Maketh Murder (live @ O2 Apollo, Manchester 8th Sep 2011)

On stage, Polly Jean was a compelling presence: a raven haired, pale skinned, most unconventional, and yet - astounding beauty. Her entire performance whilst always understated, was both theatrical and dramatic, her tiny frame masked in a grey full length gown and leather bodice complete with buckles and ties, her hair adorned with a feather headpiece that was both lovely and somewhat disturbing at once.

Throughout the whole set PJ Harvey spoke not a word, choosing instead to quietly deliver one impeccable track after another. Not taking into account the lack of respect, if you wanted to talk all the way through the set you could comfortably, but that seemed like an impossible task because you were getting drawn into a musical web. It is impossible to be indifferent to songs as "The Glorious Land" and "Pocket Knife".

The Glorious Land (live @ O2 Apollo, Manchester 8th Sep 2011)

Pocket Knife (live @ O2 Apollo, Manchester 8th Sep 2011)

The band sound great but then anyone who has got Mick Harvey in their lineup is a winner. Harvey seems to wander around the stage playing everything with deceptively casual ease. Long term connaisseurs have seen him distinguished at every style of music, from the violence of the Birthday Party or the Bad Seeds to the discreet melancholia of the PJ Harvey project, the man is a genius but he is paled next to the creative machine that is PJ Harvey.

The gig was atmospheric, the lighting bare and minimal, with no effects aside from the odd blast of smoke. After no less than eighteen tracks, PJ Harvey finally addressed the audience: “Thank you, thank you very much for coming here tonight. Goodnight”.

After much pleading from the audience PJ Harvey rejoined the stage for the encore, she introduced the band before finishing the set with "The Piano", "Angelene" and "Silence".

Then suddenly with a slip of a feather she was gone.

This was no normal gig, this was one of those moments when pop matches the real world and stares it in the eye. “Let England Shake” captures PJ Harvey with the love of England, the mystical England and the poetic England, contrasting with the disgust at the eternal war. These songs are evocative and angry. “Let England Shake” makes an anti war statement without using the usual rhetoric and the poetry is poured out from PJ Harvey’s voice with a sort of melancholy and sentiment that shows how personal this album is. How perfect.

Setlist

Let England Shake

The Words That Maketh Murder

All and Everyone

The Big Guns Called Me Back Again

Written on the Forehead

In the Dark Places

The Devil

Dear Darkness

The Glorious Land

The Last Living Rose

England

Pocket Knife

Bitter Branches

On Battleship Hill

Down by the Water

C'mon Billy

Hanging in the Wire

The Colour of the Earth

Encore

The Piano

Angelene

Silence

PJ Harvey website: http://www.pjharvey.net/
PJ Harvey myspace: http://www.myspace.com/pjharvey
PJ Harvey facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PJHarvey

Au revoir mon petit bijou - Holidays in France (August/September 2011) Location: Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France

2011-09-07T13:02:00.276+01:00

Due to unfortunate events I had to renounce my intentions on taking some holiday in Sweden (postponed to next year, hopefully) and made a last minute decision of going to Nantes, France.

It was a good decision. Nantes is a very friendly city to visit and full of interesting places to see, nice food and nice people (most of them). The sun was shining and all went according what we had in plan: relaxing holidays without worries.

Street in Nantes

Our hotel was nothing special but with the accommodation prices in France, we couldn’t be very picky! The best thing about the hotel is that is very nicely located in the centre of the city. Besides from some travel in the local metrolink, we spent our days walking around Nantes.

After a few days in Nantes, I concluded that the British need to learn a lot from the French but the major things are:

- How to maintain the streets clean, fresh and beautiful.

- How to treat their clients: in a restaurant, shop or anywhere else.

- How to make patisserie and food in general, but specially french fries (there’s a reason for it to be called french fries in English).

- How to enjoy a glass of wine or a beer on a night out without the need of binge drinking.

- And many others…

Metrolink near the Château des Ducs de Bretagne

We spent our time in a lovely and sunny Nantes visiting some museums, strolling around seeing the beautiful architecture of the streets and churches, doing some shopping, having great meals (the food and patisserie are great, specially compared with the UK), a quick cruise in the Erdre River and listening to some jazz (Les Rendez-vous de l'Erdre, a jazz festival centred around the Erdre river was on).

Here are some of the places we visited:

Musée de l'Imprimerie

In today’s digital world, it’s great to be able to visit a place like this. On the Musée de l'Imprimerie we took a look back at the printing trade in an authentic atmosphere, impregnated with the smells of lead and ink. We saw how the machines are operated and how the old tools were used to allow the reproduction of the writing and the image during five centuries, thus spreading culture and information. Lithographs, engraved wood and others can be found at this museum. Essential for lovers of the written word.

Ticket for the Musée de l'Imprimerie

Musée Jules Verne

Captain Nemo

Jules Verne

The Jules Verne Museum is located on the side of a cliff in Nantes overlooking the Loire River. Jules Verne never lived in this building but its surroundings reflect the atmosphere which influenced his work.

The museum has a collection of artefacts, replicas of his inventions, and memorabilia inspired by his writings. For those who enjoy Verne’s work is a visit you do not want to miss.

Château des Ducs de Bretagne

This is a monument to the city’s history, built over the course of centuries, beginning with the 15th. This was the home of Anne de Bretagne — twice Queen of France — who bound Brittany to France, quelling rebellions while securing rights for her region. Originally situated directly on the Loire, the branch of the river that once ran in front of the château was filled in the 18th century as the city expanded. It has become a city museum, a restaurant and an exhibition space. Rarely has a local history museum been so engaging and interactive.

Les Machines de l'Ile

Nantes is the city of Jules Verne, and his legacy is best celebrated not at the museum dedicated to him, but on the banks of the Loire at the Les Machines de l'Ile.

It's very hard to describe this place. It's a cross between an exhibition, a playground, an art gallery and a theme park. Ultimately I suppose, it's an experiment.

Les Machines de l'Ile exhibition is separated in several components. One is the machine gallery, a hall full of bizarre Jules Verne and Leonardo Da Vinci inspired inventions, half animal, half machine. They're made of metal and wood, each with seats and levers and pulleys for their many moving parts.

Demonstrators move back and forth, inviting visitors to climb aboard and take a ride on the several machines available, from the giant squid to the deepwater lantern fish.

These inventions are truly odd, and strangely compelling.

Across the way is the workshop where the creatures are built by a team of artists, engineers and craftsmen, and you can stand on the balcony and watch them working. You can also see a movie explaining the work done on Les Machines de l'Ile.

In between the two is the piece de resistance, Le Grand Eléphant. This is the largest and most versatile of the machines, a 12 metre high wooden elephant that can take visitors for a ride around the quayside. It is really a work of art and at the same time it is a miracle of hydraulics, but it's also surprisingly life-like - it can wink, trumpet and spray unwary tourists with water. It's also enormous, and just seeing it on the move is a magical experience.

I said earlier that Les Machines de l'Ile is ultimately an experiment because this is just the first stage of a humongous project. Each of the little machines will be part of a huge carousel based around Jules Verne's undersea fantasies. The carousel will have three levels, the surface, under the sea, and the abyss. The machines on display in the machine gallery will all find a home here. As well as this, a colossal tree is planned for the site, 45 metres wide and 28 high, which will have stork rides at the top. It's this absurd vision which is the heartbeat of the attraction - a celebration of the Victorian era of engineering when anything seemed possible, and a continuation of the remarkable imagination of Jules Verne.

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul

Other points of interest in Nantes, whilst you are just strolling around are:

Churches

- Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Nantes

- Église Notre-Dame de Bon-Port

- Basilique Saint-Nicolas

- Église Sainte-Croix

Gardens

- Jardin des Plantes de Nantes

- Jardin Japonais de l'Île de Versailles (some photos below)

Historical places

- Passage Pommeraye; a 19th century galleria with shopping.

- Brasserie La Cigale; described by Jean-Louis Trintignant as "perhaps the most beautiful brasserie in the world."

- Place du Commerce; the city's main square.

- Place Royale; a historic square located in the heart of the city, recently renewed.

- Place Graslin; a historic place featuring the Theatre of Nantes and famous brasserie La Cigale.

- Crebillon Street and Orleans Street lined with luxury boutiques linked by the Place Royale.

- La Tour LU (the LU Tower); a tower standing the entrance of the former Lefèvre-Utile biscuit factory.

View of Passage Pommeraye and some details

Brasserie La Cigale pamphlet

Place Royale

I really enjoyed everything Nantes has to offer and especially Les Machines de l'Ile. I will go back there some day in the future to check on the giant carousel.

See you some day again, Nantes. Au revoir mon petit bijou.

The Whip + Dutch Uncles (19th August 2011) Location: Band On The Wall, Manchester, UK

2011-08-21T19:36:00.000+01:00

Never heard about these two Manchester based bands before, but I was one of the lucky ones to get free tickets for this special event. Two bands that are mainly electronic pop playing their songs in an acoustic format. Band On The Wall is always offering us with this sort of pearls and knowing by now that every artist scheduled to play on this venue is worthwhile, I went for it.

Dutch Uncles

Didn’t had the opportunity to hear anything from the Dutch Uncles beforehand but I was pleasantly surprise with their sound, at least on this acoustic format. Full of xylophones and ethereal sounds, it was clear the Sigur Rós and Jónsi were their greatest influence for this acoustic set.

Their major influences are The Smiths and Talking Heads for sure, but they still have a long way to reach the heights of these names.

Dutch Uncles sound like a band on the brink, and there's enough promise here to justify interest in the road they are following and check what they are doing from time to time.

I continue to be completely gobsmacked with the complete lack of respect for support bands and their work. And this is pretty normal in this country’s venues. Being this concert an acoustic set the noise was even more audible than normal. The band’s charismatic front man wasn’t very happy with all the noise and he didn’t fail to mention it. Good for him and I totally agreed with him.

Dutch Uncles – “Face In”

(Unfortunately I don’t have any video from the concert at Band On The Wall)

The Whip

This is an electro-pop band that has managed to get some credits already and they were able to surprise me in a very positive way.

I heard some of their songs on youtube before coming for this gig and they didn’t tick all the boxes for me. Too much electronic sounds and dance sounds. They really aren’t my cup of tea. I’m not saying they’re bad; I can listen to their on the radio without any problem.

It won’t give me creepy attacks of diarrhoea like other things we are constantly bombarded on corporative setlists that we have to hear every hour until our ears bleed from exhaustion (Hi, Bruno Mars. Arghhh!!). That’s why I stopped listening to the radio.

But as I was saying, they were able to surprise me because on this acoustic set they substituted the electro riffs with guitar riffs and their sound was much more stripped to the essentials.

All their influences were there for everyone to see and we could hear several familiar things without being able to point out what they were. Mainly they drink from the best 80’s stream, alongside with the 90’s power chords. All mixed together and with a female drummer much influenced by the White Stripes, their sound is really addictive and you are unable to be without moving on their concerts. All very danceable and it sounded like we were back in the Haçienda.

The Whip – “Trash” (Live at the Warehouse Project, Manchester Academy 2, 17 Dec 2008)

(Unfortunately I don’t have any video from the concert at Band On The Wall)

In conclusion: I need to check The Whip's new record (here's a review) and see if they can totally convince me. It was a pleasant evening as always at Band On The Wall.

Let’s Not Speak of this Again: Jack Whitehall (11th August 2011) Location: The Frog & Bucket Comedy Club, Manchester, UK

2011-08-18T20:56:00.000+01:00

I had booked seats on The Frog & Bucket Comedy Club to see Jack Whitehall doing his stand-up comedian show for the day just after the riots in Manchester so there was a slight chance of it being cancelled due to the fear of some more riots. Thankfully nothing happened at all and as per information provided via Twitter by Jack himself, the show had the go ahead.

This was my first time seeing a stand-up show live and it was a blast.

Jack is funny as hell and we had a very pleasant evening. From joking around with his own life experiences of living alone for the first time, his issues with a Geordie ex-girlfriend to mocking around the riot issues that had happen the previous days, all with a very positive and constructive banter.

I leave here a little example of Jack’s wit. I highly recommend that you see him live.

Prior to Jack, there was another stand-up comedian that is on the right track to be one of the great ones also. His name is Danny McLoughlin from Chester and he is also really funny. He is someone to follow closely and see how his career evolves.

After the strange and fearful days before, it was very nice to have a big laugh to relief myself of all the stress accumulated. I really enjoyed and I have to repeat a night out like this one. The Frog & Bucket Comedy Club is a very nice venue to spend a few hours laughing out loud.

Riots in England (August 2011) Location: Salford and Manchester, UK

2011-08-15T13:13:00.000+01:00

It has now passed one week since the riots in Salford and Manchester.

First of all, I think that what happened in Manchester, London and other parts of the country shouldn’t be called riots, as all media have been calling it. It was simply and without any doubt a wave of stealing and a rampage of massive disorder.
Calling the people who've done it protesters is another complete nonsense.

Protesters act for the sake of an agenda and have always some bigger issue that the majority of people don’t agree and that’s the reason why they protest against it.

What happened in England (some media also refers wrongly to it as riots in the UK, when there was no problem in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) were just people of low morale having an opportunistic situation to do something that normally they wouldn’t do with fear of being caught.

It all started after the death of a man in Tottenham by the hand of the Police (I’m not discussing this issue here), which lead to a peaceful manifestation. Some thugs grasped the opportunity to damage private and commercial properties and steal whatever they wanted. Other people saw what was going on and just thought:
“ - If they can do it, why can’t I?”

From there it escalated exponentially to what we’ve seen in the past week. Basically it is easy to get away with the crime if you are among of thousands doing it, then when you do it on your own.

What can we say about these people? When asked by the media or when in court about the reasons for what they’ve done, we got answers like:
“ - Because it is funny”;
“ - If other people can have these things, why can’t I?”;

Depending on the ages of these people, there are some things they have in common: low morale, low self-esteem and lack of respect for other people's lives.

A lot of discussions will revolve around these incidents and the cause of them now that everything has cooled down (Here are several interesting points of view...) but in my opinion there’s no excuse for this type of behaviour and it is a pity that the sentences for those caught are not harsher.

At least one thing is certain; in Manchester the sentences have been harsher than in the rest of England. The Mancunians showed that they won’t tolerate this sort of behaviour in their city and have been collaborating with the Police to identify the ones responsible so that they can be brought to justice.

I’ve been living and working in England for the last 3 years and a half, more or less, and moved into Manchester 1 year and a few months ago. In this amount of time, I learned to love and respect Manchester with all its good and bad things.

I know that I’m not born and raised in this city but with all the respect for those who are, I would like to consider myself also as a proud Mancunian.

You are stealing!! It is not as you are in a budget, mate!!
Of all the shops to loot...

A Lei da Selva Tema: Portugal em Farrapos 2011

2011-08-04T13:45:00.000+01:00

Opinião: E agora, senhoras e senhores... A LEI DA SELVA

Não foi por falta de aviso.

Não foi porque não fosse previsível.

Tudo o que se passou desde a campanha eleitoral até hoje apontava nesta direcção. As declarações diárias de ministros, primeiros, presidentes, secretários de estado, comentadores e os patrões de todos estes indicavam um caminho a passos largos com os olhos e as mentes neste objectivo.

Cito palavra por palavra o insuspeito Jornal de Negócios, na notícia Acordos Informais suspendem Lei Laboral até que a crise passe "Mais vale receber quinhentos euros do que não receber nenhum. O argumento - básico e eficaz - está a justificar cortes salariais no sector privado. (...) Em Lisboa, dezenas de jornalistas do "i" perderam a isenção de horário e parte do que recebiam por exclusividade. Em Vila Franca de Xira, os motoristas da Rodo Cargo prescindem desde Janeiro de 57 euros por mês que recebiam. Em Trás-os-Montes, a Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Ribeira de Pena só pagou metade do subsídio de férias."

Bem-vindos à Lei do Mais Forte. Esta lei está escrita em todos nós. É talvez a lei fundamental do planeta. Defende que num grupo os mais fortes dominarão os mais fracos a seu bel-prazer. Os fracos terão senhores a quem devem obediência por virtude da sua força. É a Lei da Selva. Analisando a notícia do Jornal de Negócios (e muitas outras, infelizmente), os mais fortes são as empresas e os mais fracos são os trabalhadores. Ora, eu gostaria de partir do princípio que nós, seres humanos, somos relativamente racionais. Portanto, para nos livrarmos da crueldade e inumanidade que é a Lei da Selva, decidimos criar, nós mesmos, outras leis. Estas leis são acordos, por vezes tácitos, por vezes escritos, que permitem que as sociedades coexistam de modo relativamente pacífico e que não sejamos todos uns animais, com o objectivo principal de vida de nos safarmos enquanto indivíduos, passando por cima de todos os outros, destruindo as vidas de quem quer que seja, para podermos afirmar a nossa superioridade.

O percurso que conhecemos da história deslocava-se (a soluços, infelizmente), na direcção da construção de leis de humanidade para que pudéssemos estabelecer uma sociedade boa, procurando caminhar para a nossa própria humanização, a plenitude enquanto seres humanos, libertar-nos da Lei da Selva. O fim das leis humanas significa o regresso da Lei da Selva. A lei por omissão é a Lei do Mais Forte. O caminho para lá chegar tem vários nomes - o que está neste momento mais na berra é liberalização. Mas o Jornal de Negócios afirma-o inequivocamente "Acordos Informais suspendem a Lei Laboral". O jornal i explica-nos como o dinheiro que os trabalhadores descontaram uma vida para a Segurança Social vai ser utilizado para pagar outras contas do Estado, sem sequer ter que passar pelo Parlamento. O Correio da Manhã diz que os falsos recibos verdes verão a sua vida penhorada pelas dívidas à Segurança Social, que são da responsabilidade dos seus patrões. Os mais fortes estarão a dizer-nos que voltou a Selva e que não nos resta alternativa que não subjugarmo-nos a eles. Esta não é uma questão de incompetência ou objectivo dos governos - este governo, como os seus antecessores, é extremamente competente e tem um objectivo muito bem definido. Um dos seus patrões do momento, Ricardo Salgado, já comentou, com exactidão, que este governo "está a actuar de forma excelente". O seu objectivo é implementar a Lei da Selva, não só nas relações laborais, como também em todas as leis da sociedade. Eles querem (re)criar antigas leis do homem que mais não faziam que justificar a superioridade das camadas superiores da sociedade sob a massa humana que faz o mundo andar. Exigem-nos que verguemos, que os sirvamos - porque são os mais fortes.

Mas serão eles os mais fortes? Foram criadas "ciências exactas" para justificar a superioridade dos mais fortes. Chamam-lhe Economia mas, tendo em vista o seu objectivo, o seu verdadeiro nome neste momento é Tirania. Chamam-lhe Democracia mas, tendo em visto o seu objectivo neste momento, não o é. E nós? Nós fomos criados e formatados para pensar que somos os mais fracos. Isto é dito diariamente, constantemente, pelos instrumentos de informação que eles controlam. Mas não somos. Teremos muitas amarras que quebrar para nos apercebermos disso. As primeiras amarras a quebrar estão dentro das nossas cabeças. A nossa força é terrivelmente superior à deles. E eles têm plena consciência disso. Quando nós tivermos consciência disso, o dia será nosso. E o futuro será nosso.

by João Camargo in PRECÁRI@S INFLEXÍVEIS