Dead Can Dance - Amnesia

Saw the demonstration

On remembrance day

Lest we forget the lesson

Enshrined in funeral clay

History is never written

By those who've lost

The defeated must bear witness to

Our collective memory loss

With every generation comes

Another memory lapse

See the demonstrations of

Failing to learn from our past

We live in the dreamtime

Nothing seems to last

Can you really plan a future

When you no longer have a past

Memories fall from the trees

Amnesia

Memories like autumn leaves

If we are subject to

Empirical minds

I wonder what lies beyond

Our memory's confines

If memory is the true

Sum of who we are

May your children know the truth

And shine like the brightest star

Memory, help me see

Amnesia

Memory, set me free

All my love and all my kisses

Sweet Mnemosyne. . .

You Won't Be Missing That Part Of Me, Melody's Echo Chamber (2012)

Because I lied
with all my heart
Because it's time
to change my life

'Coz [Of course]
You won't be missing that part of me
It's all you need
When telling everyone that you're free
Hold on, you'll see
It won't be that hard to forget me
I hope you won't

I've been told
Endearing soul
Wish you knew
I was too young

Because you cried
Does it mean you
Can talk to me
When you decide

At least
You won't be missing that part of me
It's all you need
When telling everyone that you're free
Hold on, you'll see
It won't be that hard to forget me
I hope you won't

Will you forgive that I left
Should predict why you would hate

"ThisIsIt" ou Randy Rose conta nova estória

Depois de Walking around L.A., o elemento mais destacado (mas não "mais importante") do actual trio que são os The Residents, "Randy Rose" (ou será "Randy" Rose?) publicou no seu canal a quarta vídeo-estória, desta vez uma metáfora da máscara enquanto elemento identificador e, simultaneamente, obliterador de uma identidade. Ou da sua identidade? Discretos, mas coincidentes com a sua página no Tumblr, são-nos dados pelo Randy pedaços de informação que demonstram, quais migalhas reconstituidoras de um percurso a fazer ao invés, para aquilo que refiro no parágrafo seguinte.

É que, como sempre, este vídeo, tal como todos os projectos associados aos Residents, não deve ser visto enquanto object d'art isolado mas, antes, entendido como fazendo parte de um mais vasto e universal (por 'universal' entenda-se, vindo do seio dos elementos da "banda")... monumento (grandiloquências à parte,  ponhamo-lo desta forma) criativo e informativo. Vejam-se, além dosdois links acima, também a página facebook do compositor e teclista da banda, "Charles 'Chuck' Bobuck" e a da própria banda, para absorção de mais pistas de um novelo que tecem já desde há 40 anos a esta data.

A peça que falta, mesmo, é a associada ao até agora mais "ausente" terceiro membro, "Bob", o guitarrista (para já não mencionar o saído quarto membro, "Carlos" de seu nome... — "Fuck Carlos!" desabafou ironicamente o Randy no espectáculo Talking Light de 2010-11).

Speed Of Sound Skydive no próximo dia 8 de Outubro 2012

Vem de Roswell no New Mexico e, por isso mesmo, dá que perguntar: "É um OVNI? É um ET?". Mas não não é qualquer dos anteriores. É simplesmente a antevisão da façanha que o austríaco Felix Baumgartner irá executar no próximo dia 8 deste mês, saltando da estratoesférica altura aproximada de 36.600 metros (120 mil pés) em direcção à Terra a partir de uma cápsula pressurizada. Reproduzo o texto original da notícia:

Red Bull Media House http://www.redbullstratos.com
ROSWELL (New Mexico) - The final countdown for Felix Baumgartner's history making jump from the edge of space began on Monday after the Red Bull Stratos Technical Project Director Art Thompson declared the repaired space capsule is fit and all systems are go. The tentative launch date for Baumgartner's attempt to jump from an altitude of 36,576 meters has now been set for October 8, ending a period of uncertainty for the team and, for Baumgartner, the agony of waiting. The Austrian extreme sport athlete had to endure delays due to the repairs but is now delighted that the countdown is on for his attempt to become the first person to break the sound barrier in freefall and set four other world records in the process.

"I feel like a tiger in a cage waiting to get out," said Baumgartner, 43, one of the world's most celebrated B.A.S.E. jumpers and extreme athletes, who in 2003 became the first person to make a freefall flight across the English Channel with the aid of a carbon wing. He will be flying as fast as speeding bullet during his supersonic journey to Earth.

Aviation pioneer Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team have been preparing for years to break the record for highest-altitude jump, eclipsing a mark set more than 52 years ago. The capsule, which at about 1.315 kilogram weighs a little bit more than a VW Beetle, was damaged in a hard landing following Baumgartner's final test jump from a near-record altitude of 29,610 meters in July -- during the jump Baumgartner was freefalling at speeds of up to 864 kilometers per hour, or as fast as a commercial airliner. The Austrian landed safely in another part of the New Mexico desert.

On September 24, the repaired capsule underwent testing in an altitude chamber at Brooks City-Base in San Antonio, Texas. The capsule was exposed to the extreme conditions it will face in the unforgiving environs of the stratosphere. After passing all the tests, the capsule was sent back to Roswell.

A central aim of the Red Bull Stratos project is to collect valuable data for science that could ultimately help improve the safety of space travel and enable high-altitude escapes from spacecraft. The jump will also attempt to break an assortment of records such as highest speed in freefall, highest jump, highest manned balloon flight and longest freefall.

Thompson is cautiously optimistic about the launch date of October 8, while acknowledging that perfect weather conditions are needed for the delicate 850.000 cubic meters helium balloon, which is made of plastic that has 1/10th the thickness of a Ziploc bag. Mission meteorologist Don Day confirmed, "Early fall in New Mexico is one of the best times of the year to launch stratospheric balloons."

Robert Fripp - North Star (1979)

Prefiro esta versão (do primeiro álbum a solo de Robert Fripp, Exposure, datado de 1979) a esta.

Daryl Hall feat. Monte Montgomery - North Star (Live)

Gentle Giant, Memories Of Old Days - Live in London 1978

Andy Burrows, Because I Know That I Can

David Byrne & St. Vincent, Who

Do álbum intitulado Love This Giant, a editar em 10 de Setembro próximo.

Walking around L.A. (by Randy Rose)

Talvez que venha a ser o primeiro (?) vídeo complementar à série fotográfica que o "Randy Rose" tem vindo a publicar no seu Tumblr. Um contraponto às fotos, pela voz do próprio e música composta pelo (conjecturo eu) Charles "Chuck" Bobuck.

The Cure, To Wish Impossible Things (1992)

"To Wish Impossible Things" (The Cure)

remember how it used to be
when the sun would fill the sky
remember how we used to feel
those days would never end
those days would never end

remember how it used to be
when the stars would fill the sky
remember how we used to dream
those nights would never end
those nights would never end

it was the sweetness of your skin
it was the hope of all we might have been
that filled me with the hope to wish
impossible things
to wish impossible things

but now the sun shines cold
and all the sky is grey
the stars are dimmed by clouds and tears
and all i wish
is gone away
all i wish
is gone away

and all i wish
is gone away

all i wish
is gone away

all i wish
is gone away

all i wish
is gone away...

LEGO: uns belos 80 anos

A LEGO celebrou no passado dia 10 de Agosto o 80º aniversário há dias. Neste vídeo de 17 minutos a companhia traça os passos mais emblemáticos da sua longa história iniciada por Ole Kirk Christiansen. A começar por mim, toda a miudagem que entretanto pôde brincar com os seus produtos deseja-lhe longa vida.

LEGO Art

Não há palavras para categorizar LEGO. Entre outras, LEGO é brinquedo, entretenimento, descoberta, invenção e Meio.

Nigel Farage. Acho que o seu discurso diz (quase) tudo

Na sequência disto, que tal o seguinte discurso de Nigel Farrage em 16 de Novembro de 2011?

São as Olimpíadas (e nada como uma boa teoriazinha da conspiração para acompanhar)

Londres 2012. Para os mais distraídos recordo que são duas, as XXX Olimpíadas de Verão. A primeira começou no passado dia 27 de Julho, estendendo-se até 12 de Agosto. As segundas, os chamados Jogos Paralímpicos de Verão, disputam-se entre 29 de Agosto e 9 de Setembro. Ainda antes de começarem, já os habituais adeptos de uma boa conspiraçãozinha se entretiveram a associar-lhes significados e sentidos  outros, para além daqueles que o espírito do Barão Pierre de Coubertain lhes quisera imprimir nos idos de 1896. Enquanto matamos saudades da série televisiva The X-files, aqui deixo quatro vídeos, Guia Vice dos Jogos Olímpicos, onde se expõe practicamente tudo o que se possa pensar de eventualmente desviante (uns mais caprichados que outros), associado a estes Jogos. Entretenimento garantido.

For absent friends: Pearl Jam, Light Years (2011)

I've used hammers made out of wood
I have played games with pieces and rules
I've deciphered tricks at the bar
But now you're gone
I haven't figured out why
I've come up with riddles
And jokes about war
I've figured out numbers and what they're for
I've understood feelings
And I've understood words
But how could you be taken away

And wherever you've gone
And wherever we might go
It don't seem fair
Today you just disappeared
Your light's reflected now
Reflected from afar
We were but stones
Your light made us stars

With heavy breath,
Awakened regrets
Back pages and days alone that could've been spent, together...
But we were miles apart
Every inch between us becomes light years now
No time to be void
Or save up on life
God, uh you've got to spend it all

And wherever you've gone
And wherever we might go
It don't seem fair
Today you just disappeared
Your light's reflected now
Reflected from a far
We were but stones
Your light made us stars

And wherever you've gone
And wherever we might go
It don't seem fair
We still need you here
Your light's reflected now
Reflected from afar
We were but stones
Your light made us stars

Time Is On My Side, The Rolling Stones, no filme "Fallen"

Desde que revi Fallen, um poderoso e algo esquecido filme dirigido em 1998 por Gregory Hoblit, que não me sai da cabeça este tema dos The Rolling Stones. Curioso é que poucos dias depois de o ver, decidi ler (coincidência?) o livro de Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending (O Sentido do Fim, vencedor do prémio Man Booker Prize em 2011, obra não menos poderosa que o filme, cuja leitura recomendo ASAP), onde o refrão é referido umas 3 vezes ao longo da narrativa. Aqui ficam os primeiros instantes do Fallen em que a canção surge e, a seguir, o tema interpretado em 1964 pelos 4 old-timers do Rock, e uma reprodução da respectiva letra.

Time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is

Now you always say
That you want to be free
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me

Oh, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is

You're searching for good times
But just wait and see
You'll come running back (I wont have to worry no more)
You'll come running back (spend the rest of my life with you, baby)
You'll come running back to me

Go ahead, go ahead and light up the town
And baby, do everything your heart desires
Remember, I'll always be around
And I know, I know
Like I told you so many times before
You're gonna come back, baby
'Cause I know
You're gonna come back knocking
Yeah, knocking right on my door
Yes, yes!

Well, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is

'Cause I got the real love
The kind that you need
You'll come running back (said you would, baby)
You'll come running back (I always said you would)
You'll come running back, to me
Yes time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Oh, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
I said, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Oh, time, time, time is on my side
Yeah, time, time, time is on my side

Pendragon, It's Just A matter Of Not Getting Caught

Um dos temas, para mim, mais interessantes do mais recente álbum dos Pendragon (Passion, de 2011).




A drop of rain a sheet of ice,
You float through life, you've been here twice
No broken bones, you're on your own
You settle down and make a loving home
You run your hands through swaying corn,
You know you have to die to be reborn

Are you so beatiful tomorrow?

What goes around comes around,
All the clichés of the world and dumbing down
I know your mind, I know your tricks,
Your verbal sound bytes, you lying git
The puncture wound, the heroin,
Unsettled bills, the mortal sin

The trail of slime, where you have been,
Did I say the right thing?
You rule by fear, truth or dare,
The purest words, you've no idea

Will you be so beautiful tomorrow?

No substitute for honest toil,
No antidote for idle hands
In seconds life can turn around,
Depends which way the coin will land

Someone, somewhere, surely
Must know what's going on
The more I live the less I know,
Are you sure I said the right thing?

You run your hand through swaying corn,
You have to die to be reborn
You raise your eyes to heavens above,
You'll have to come back here
Cos you didn't give... love.

Pearl Jam, Better Man (Madison Square Garden - New York, NY 5/21/2011)

Racing In Slow Motion IV

Começa com a afirmação de Bruce McLaren e nunca mais pára. Muito bom.