Running...

Running has been a topic that many filmmakers and novelists have approached over the years.But what is it that makes the simple act of running such an interesting topic to approach?
Are there not many other athletics skills or events more interesting that would give great stories? Maybe! There are quite a few Artworks out there that depict athleticism and sports of all sorts from golf to boxing, to Skydiving and rock climbing and so on that narrate the story of true or fictional carachters that were known for their athletic prowess, or simply due to the fact that some filmmaker decided there was a story to be told about some sportsman or athlete out there.
However,what is it that still makes the act of running such an interesting topic for novelists and filmmakers to develop and elaborate? Simplest act in the world for anyone lucky enough to have both legs and a healthy heart.We have been doing it since we started taking our first steps without the aid of parental hands.We all have that memorable run in our minds were it from escaping someone or something that imposed danger to us,or to that run we made towards someone or something we called our prize or our loved one.
Most of us were for the first time challenged or challenged our teen aggressive peer for a run to see whom was faster.
Some few enjoy the act of running so much they do it every day for a number of hours,some do it just for the fun of it,some hate it and are obligated to do it,but most of us when we get older old that memory of how fast we were when we knew our prime.
Most of whom are deprived from the act of running due to health problems or some sort of incarceration, value the act of running sometimes more than life itself since it became an impossible task to achieve and because of its sheer representation of health or absolute freedom.
There are certain tribes in South America that even turned the act of running into a religion.Long distance runners are true wizards in the act of running and can share stories about it that most couch potatoes (that´s me,lol) would not even begin to understand.
Needless to say,there was still a lot more to be said about running...

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner


The Jericho Mile


Chariots of Fire


Gallipoli


"Running"

Pessoa...

If Fernando Pessoa were alive today he would celebrate his 123rd birthday!
Now like before, how can one claim true poetry just for oneself? All beautiful
things should never perish inside a box,they should be set free,they should blow in the wind.
For all things that blow in the wind will sooner or later find a place to rest and they shall call it home._BB


The Tagus is more beautiful than the river that flows through my village,
But the Tagus is not more beautiful than the river that flows through my village
Because the Tagus is not the river that flows through my village.

The Tagus has enormous ships,
And for those who see in everything that which isn't there
Its waters are still sailed
By the memory of the carracks.

The Tagus descends from Spain
And crosses Portugal to pour into the sea.
Everyone knows this.
But few know what the river of my village is called
And where it goes to
And where it comes from.
And so, because it belongs to fewer people,
The river of my village is freer and larger.

The Tagus leads to the world.
Beyond the Tagus there is America
And the fortune of those who find it.
No one ever thought about what's beyond
The river of my village.

The river of my village doesn't make one think of anything.
Whoever is next to it is simply next to it.

O Tejo é mais belo que o rio que corre pela minha aldeia,
Mas o tejo não é mais belo que o rio que corre pela minha aldeia
Porque o tejo não é o rio que corre pela minha aldeia,
O Tejo tem grande navios
E navega nele ainda,
Para aqueles que vêem em tudo o que lá não está,
A memória das naus.
O Tejo desce de Espanha
E o Tejo entra no mar em Portugal.
Toda a gente sabe isso.
Mas poucos sabem qual é o rio da minha aldeia
E para onde ele vai
E donde ele vem.
E por isso, porque pertence a menos gente,
É mais livre e maior o rio da minha aldeia.
Pelo Tejo vai-se para o Mundo.
Para além do Tejo há a América
E a fortuna daqueles que a encontram.
Ninguém nunca pensou no que há para além
Do rio da minha aldeia.
O rio da minha aldeia não faz pensar em nada.
Quem está ao pé dele está só ao pé dele.

Alive, He cried

Dear friends,hello.

I am very sorry for the long period without posting or giving news, but I´ve been experiencing some rather complicated personal and professional issues that kept me away from my obligations as a blogger (a bad one indeed).
I have also had some computer problems,since my last laptop went definitely KAPUT on me and is now at computer heaven.So only now I´ve been able to link myself to the Internet.
I would like to thank you all for your great patience,friendship and comments,and for sharing your time and ideas with this poor excuse of a blogger.

Your friend_BB

P.S. Meanwhile here is a small treat for those of you that like to travel and don´t know that much about Portugal.I found this great Virtual tour about the Jeronimos Monastery that I would like to share with you,so please click on the web link bellow.
http://3d.culturaonline.pt/Content/Common/VirtualTour/Index.htm?id=75047666-4597-4a28-ae77-9b7567c4732b

I hope you enjoy the ride.

A todos os amigos(as) Portugueses(as) que têm sido tão generosos para comigo com o vosso tempo, mails,palavras de preocupação e afecto o meu mais profundo Obrigado.

Renewal

Hi Everyone!
Today I was wondering what I could possibly post over here.Have you ever had one of those days were you feel no inspiration?I mean-0,ZERO,NOTHING,NADA?
Well,today was one of those days;after a long period without posting I wanted to say something about Easter and renewal,because after all "Easter is Renewal",and just like Spring, it brings forth the chance to celebrate life and hope after the long, cold and dark period of winter.I believe this to be true whenever I watch Nature´s grand amazing and natural architecture showing and covering the meadows with flowers,grass and the promise of trees.
But before I start rambling about like I sometimes do; like I was saying earlier, I felt no inspiration,but checking my Email today I was surprised to find three amazing music projects all in the Bel Canto area that a few friends had sent me.
The funny of it is,they don´t know each other,and although I like Bel Canto (I love all sorts of music)I had to smile with the refined taste of the video links instead of the usual-Dude,look at this guy shredding that electric guitar!!- Stuff.
I felt perplexed with this amazing coincidence and felt the need to share these videos with you,I hope you like these has much as I did.
I wish you all a Happy Easter and along with it the great chance of renewal of hearts and minds._BB

Here is a video that according to a friend went viral,but I had no idea of its existence,I really enjoyed it.

Here is a grand choir that I had the chance to watch perform earlier this week, live at the Church of Saint Nicholas/Igreja de são Nicolau in Lisbon.

And here is the Pièce de résistance, a great video from a well known blogger singing with the voice of an angel.You can also check it at http://www.suniart.blogspot.com/

Páscoa Feliz/Happy Easter

A dog named Patrick

Hello everyone!

I reflect a bit before writing this text as it is not my interest to emotionally disturb anyone advertising the little shop of horrors that is TV nowadays, with its daily news.All day long we watch countless hours off death, destruction, disasters, corruption, crime, war, wildfires, world hunger, war, elections, downfall of governments, war, disasters,financial political and social collapses,war (sorry,i believe i´ve said war before) and to my very own astonishment, daily I watch these sort of news bulletins paused, "not focused and looking for voices that provide solutions for a much needed physical and mental therapy on a world increasingly unbalanced and artificial "but by a cataclysm of ads that advertise the new toothpaste, or the new slimming pills, soon to be superseded by the hyper-caloric announcement from the latest delicacy wrapped inside a multicolored package stuffed with onions,ketchup,salt,sugar, "arthritis" and all sorts of yummi extras, that add "that" extra taste of artificial vanilla to a piece of ground beef injected with hormones and adrenaline that our children love to eat washing it down their little throats with buckets of coca-cola,so they later can become part of the latest statistics on childhood obesity or diabetes,brought to you by the same "humanitarians" who give pocket money to cancer research centers every Christmas, and are the very same people that made your kids fat and lazy in the first place and who are now promoting exercise and salad on a non stop vomiting (but profitable) chain of events...
Wait!Let me stop for a while so I can catch my breath before going on ...

Over the years we have seen "moral values" being traded before our very eyes in the name of sheer greed in a never ending accumulation of material goods, but we fail to realize
there is a true and fierce lack of peace, love, brotherhood, understanding, love for nature,love for animals and our fellow man in modern society.
I often wonder-what is it? Who turned "US"into this smart but cruel puppets that walk the earth?Let me ask you!Isn´t Man part of the same nature that nourishes our beings? In the end will we not nourish nature in return?SURE WE WILL!THIS IS A FACT! Although in our pathetically stupid arrogant perspective we keep lying to ourselves and believe to belong at some higher step in evolution.
Since this is so, why do we sometimes act the way we do? So disrespectful of Nature and our fellow man ?
Am I going too fast? I apologize,I often wonder and loose myself in my own thoughts.
There are certain stories that force me to stop and think about the sad fate of that word we often misquote,a word that should be shouted from the rooftops, and that is still the purest symbol of all that is good and that "still" endures inside man.
Clearly you know that I am talking about "LOVE".
I do not intend to subliminate anymore what I wanted to show you,because there is no point in covering up a horror story under a Ton of fancy words.

Perhaps you have seen or heard about this_ somewhere in the United States; a dog after having spent a period of famine way beyond the starvation point, was pushed into a bag and thrown inside of a garbage duct.A maintenance worker noticed some movement inside the bag and opened it up,were he found the dog who was now little more than a pile of bones but,was still fighting for his life.
This dog survived after persistent and excellent work done by a team of veterinarians and was named Patrick, since he was found on Saint Patrick´s day.
To watch a video click HERE.
I am mentioning this because Patrick has become an Internet phenomenon with thousands of followers around the world (including me) who seek to know his state of health on a daily basis.
With this I hope that in future the name of Patrick is spoken in all corners of the world and become a sort of symbol for all those who loathe and despise those who encourage such sadism and fail to give a more "human" treatment to their pets.I hope that this kind of behavior will be casted out from all societies once and for all...I hope...Since "we are only human" If we act as such.

I did not want to extend the horizons of this very small shop of horrors but for those who somehow feel the need to broaden their vision of things and aren´t afraid of a much more graphic perspective I would also like to ask your attention to the following story from Brazil.
Viewer discretion is advised:To view click HERE.
To finish I just wanted to point out that over the years I´ve had the privilege to meet some people, ordinary folks like myself of all nationalities who face all the difficulties of life as I do, and share no other previlege than the ability to feel some empathy.
There is nothing "sanctifying" in it, but I still feel a genuine affection and the deepest admiration for people who have shared and keep sharing stories of how they saved dogs and cats that were abandoned to die on highways,of dogs and cats who were kicked with such violence until they had their bones broken, or people who have pets with no legs, or who are old, or blind and so on with no common appeal in what is supposed to be a pet, or how they filed complaints to the police about attack dogs that were used in illegal fights to the death and when found were completely deformed,deranged and mad from the brutality they endured, or animals that were forced to give birth to never ending litters of pups and kittens until they were unable to walk,or strangled dogs hanging from trees with their own leashes or tied with chains to tires to serve as practice for target shooting ... and an infinite number of dark and hard to imagine stories.
I hope this new century will bring forth not only what is techno progress or economic and Socio-Development but also, the ability to turn to ourselves,into our humanity,our kindness,without intention to quote any sort of religious cliche I dare say our very "souls", so we may find once more, and miss that increasingly basic need, which is the need to love and learn to love back and with it have a lot of more respect for our four legged brothers._BB

I would also like to apologize for my very poor English to all of those who are kind enough to read some of my stuff...In the future I will try harder to improve my knowledge of the English language.
I THANK YOU ALL_BB

Um cão chamado Patrick

Olá a todos(as)!

Reflecti um bocado antes de escrever este texto visto que não é de meu interesse perturbar ninguém emocionalmente ou publicitar a lojinha dos horrores que é a TV com os seus flashes noticiosos diários a que nos vamos habituando e para nossa incredulidade até entretendo, com a verdadeira enchente de notícias sobre morte,destruição,abalos sismícos,corrupção,crime,guerra,fogos florestais,fome mundial,guerra,eleições,queda de governos,guerra, calamidades político_social e financeiras,guerra (desculpem acho que já tinha dito guerra) e que para meu espanto são apenas pausadas "não por vozes que procuram dar soluções e tepapia física e mental a um mundo cada vez mais desiquilibrado e artificial" mas sim pelo cataclismo de anúncios que publicitam a nova pasta de dentes ou as novas pílulas de emagrecimento para logo serem suplantadas pelo anúncio de uma qualquer iguaria hiper-calórica vendida sobre a forma de pacotinho multi-colorido e gorduroso recheado de cebola e todo o género de suplementos que adicionam um gosto suplementar e artificial de baunilha ao pedaço de carne moída e injectado com hormonas e que os nossos filhos adoram comer empurrando garganta abaixo baldes de coca-cola para mais tarde virem a pertencer à estatística de obesidade infantil ou crianças diabéticas.
Deixem-me parar um pouco para ganhar fôlego e já continuo...
Como dizia não é minha intenção publicitar ou mencionar nada que não tenha um "mínimo" de interesse socio-cultural ou que sirva de algum modo para enriquecer as nossas vidas tão ganaciosamente hipnotizadas e ávidas de acumulação de materiais mas quase totalmente áridas de paz,amor,fraternidade,compreensão,amor pela natureza,pelos animais e pelo ser humano, visto que este é parte integrante da mesma natureza que nos alimenta e alimentar-se-á dos nossos corpos depois de morrermos, embora na nossa arrogância pateticamente estúpida continuemos a mentir a nós mesmos e a querer acreditar que pertencemos a um qualquer patamar superior de evolução.
Estou a ir demasiadamente rápido? Peço desculpa,mas embora já me vá habituando a certos blocos noticiosos mais ou menos horrorizantes que vou vendo com a mesma imparcialidade e frieza com que se come um prato de lentilhas, ainda assim existem certas notícias que me obrigam a parar e pensar no triste destino daquela palavra bradada aos quatro ventos e que é a mais pura simbologia de tudo quanto existe de bom e que ainda, "ainda" vai resistindo dentro do ser-humano.
Obviamente que lhes falo daquilo que apelidamos como "AMOR".
Não pretendo aqui subliminar mais o que lhes quero mostrar, pois de nada serve querer disfarçar o horror com uma enxurrada de palavras pseudo-filosofais.
Talvez tenham visto ou ouvido esta notícia algures,nos Estados Unidos; um cão após ter passado um período de fome muito para além da sub-nutrição foi enfiado dentro de um saco e atirado por dentro de uma conduta de lixo.Um responsável pela manutenção do prédio reparou nalgum movimento dentro de um dos sacos de lixo e ao abrir o mesmo deu com o cão que não era mais do que uma pilha de ossos mas que ainda assim lutava pela vida.
Este cão hoje sobrevive depois do persistente e magnífico trabalho realizado por uma equipa de veterinários e foi baptizado com o nome de Patrick visto que foi encontado no dia de Saint Patrick um santo Irlandês conhecido por dar boa sorte aos seus seguidores.Pode ver o vídeo AQUI.
Saliento esta notícia porque o Patrick tem vindo a tornar-se num fenómeno da Internet com milhares de seguidores de todo o mundo (eu inclusive) que procuram saber o seu estado de saúde diariamente,e com isto faço votos que futuramente o nome do Patrick seja falado em todos os cantos do mundo e se torne numa espécie de símbolo para todos aqueles que abominam e desprezam todos os que se desresponsabilizam de dar um tratamento mais "Humano" aos seus animais de companhia e para que este género de comportamentos saia o mais possível do comportamento daqueles que se auto intitularam e apelidaram como seres Humanos.
Apenas "somos Humanos" quando nos portamos como tal.
Não queria alargar muito os horizontes desta lojinha dos horrores mas para aqueles que de certo modo sentem a necessidade de alargar a visão das coisas e não se importam com pormenores gráficos mais violentos então também peço a vossa atenção para este caso que vem do Brasil que é tão cruel que nem existem pormenores para o descrever.Embora tenha um final feliz desaconselho o visionamento DESTE vídeo aqueles mais sensíveis.
Para finalizar apenas queria salientar que ao longo dos anos tenho tido o previlégio verdadeiramente honrado de conhecer algumas pessoas,cidadãos comuns como eu de todas as nacionalidades que enfrentam todas a dificuldades da vida como eu, e que em nada são previlegiados a não ser com a capacidade de empatia.
Nada existe de "santificante" nisto, mas não deixo de sentir um verdadeiro carinho e a mais profunda admiração por pessoas que me contam histórias de como salvaram cães e gatos que foram abandonados em estradas para morrerem atropelados, ou pontapeados com tamanha violência que ficaram com os ossos partidos,ou que recolheram animais sem patas ou cegos ou idosos ou sem nenhum atractivo comum naquilo que é suposto ser um animal de companhia,ou que denunciaram lutas ilegais de cães e que ficaram completamente disformes e enlouquecidos devido à brutalidade resultante das mesmas,ou animais que foram forçados a parir até morrerem com ninhadas consecutivas interruptamente,ou que desprenderam cães enforcados em árvores com as próprias trelas ou amarrados com correntes a pneus para servirem de prática de tiro ao alvo... e um número infinito de histórias tenebrosas e difíceis de imaginar.
Espero que este novo século traga para além daquilo que é o progresso técnológico ou económico-social a capacidade de volvermos ao encontro de nós mesmos,da nossa humanidade,fugindo de qualquer clichê religioso atrevo-me a dizer da nossa alma;para que re-encontremos e sintamos a falta uma vez mais da necessidade mais básica, que é a necessidade de amar e saber dar amor de volta e que com isso ganhemos um maior respeito pelos nossos irmãos de quatro patas.

Dedicado com amizade ao Said e dona que muito me ensinaram e continuam a ensinar através do exemplo._BB