quinta-feira, 20 de julho de 2006

A REQUEST, GUYS!

«I don't know why it always comes as a surprise
to find I'm here with you.
You smile
and I am rubbing my eyes
at a dream come true»...

BILINGUAL
PETSHOPBOYS

Well guys, I would truly and sincerely appreciate if each and every one of you would be so kind as to refer NAMES, FACTS and OBJECTS (any kind) you «automatically» link in your mind to being Portuguese, Portugal and Portuguese culture at its broadest. I've been doing that very same research for some time now and would like very much to come to some conclusions, which I'll be posting here in a week or two. Please, don't be shy. Anything may be of importance to me.
I'm counting on you, okay? Is it a deal?

Many, many thanks!

17 comentários:

RIC disse...

Though it's fading away due to EU directives, that's somehow true, and there are still many leading that kind of life.
Welcome Jay! Thank you! :-)

Minge disse...

First off, I adore It always comes as a surprise. It's from that song, that I got my gmail email address:

impulsivefool@gmail.com

I can't be cool, or nonchalant
Call me an impulsive fool, you're all I want
You may be right, it's too much too soon
To talk of love all night in your bedroom

Anyway... I always think of Stan Getz for some reason. Never sure why.

Portugal - Mateus Rose, Our Lady Of Fatima, Revolution, Nadia (our Portuguese tanssexual Big Brother winner from two years ago), Brazil, trams, Madeira, The Algarve and green wine.

RIC disse...

Marvelous, Minge, you've been a wonderful help to me. I knew someone would react to that smile and all the rubbing of the eyes at a dream come true... I'm listening to it RIGHT NOW!
As for Brazil, for as much as I would like to count it in (I'm thinking of some of its inhabitants... Lord!), the truth is tough it's an independent country. Brazilians wouldn't like it that much at all...
Thank you! :-)

Minge disse...

In my life, there've been few who've affected me the way you do.

Gray disse...

I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but the first thing that comes into my mind is the movie "Phenomenon" (1996, starring John Travolta). The little Portugese boy is lost; Travolta's character learns Portugese while riding in a truck from town to the boy's house. Why? Portugese is one of the world's hardest languages to learn (from what I've read) and it impressed the hell out of me that - even in a movie - someone could learn most of the language in a short period of time.

Also, though not a Catholic, I have remembered since childhood the story of "The Miracle of Our Lady Of Fatima" (a 1952 movie of the 1917 event). I remember, through the movie, the rush of the "believers" to Fatima; the disbelief of the church; the final appearance of the Lady in October, 1917. More so, I remember when the Catholic church kept refusing to release the final vision.

Lastly, I remember as a child, fantasizing what life would have been like with Henry the Navigator or Vasco de Gama. I equated bravery with exploration.

Thanks for asking.

RIC disse...

Coming back to you, Minge, I do like the way you quote those lyrics. I guess that´s the very climax of the song, when one's heart's wide open. Not easy though...

RIC disse...

GRAY - Thanks a lot! Fátima, Vasco da Gama, and Infante D. Henrique (Henry the Navigator) are in my list since moment 1. Wine and fish and the whole of it...
I'm looking forward to seeing it finished, but still want to consult with some friends, because there are areas I know very little about (e.g. sciences).
AS for thr Portuguese language, I think it's more a myth than true reality. Here in Portugal sounds are rather closed, which makes understanding more difficult, but in Brazil they aren't and the language is the same. And if you know any Romanic language or Latin, then reading will be easy. For instance, Portuguese and Spanish differ as, say, German and Dutch; Portuguese and Italian as English and Dutch, I guess.
As always it's just a matter of training.
Obrigado! = Thank you! :-)

Daddy Cool disse...

Hmm, for me it's probably Port and the Discovery Monument, and Torre de Belem.

Minge disse...

Obrigada!

LOL!

RIC disse...

Okay, Minge, okay... I know now you know quite well the difference in Portuguese between masculin and feminin endings... Congratulations!
Btw, did you take the test?... :-)

FletcherBeaver disse...

Sunny skies. Boats on the sand. White-washed cottages, in villages, by the road. A smile, a waved, a relaxed hello.

RIC disse...

... It's you, FB, now who's reading minds...

Jack disse...

I think of great friends,
Stricted up bringing,
2 parents not speaking neither French nor English, using their 8 year old little girl as translator for the rest of their lives. She's 30 today,
Religion,
Coming out is sorta ok because it's here, in Montréal,
Why sorta? Cause it's just never discussed,
A sense of community,
Good food,
Beautiful culture, customs

BTW I like your comments here and there.

Drop by sometimes.
J

RIC disse...

Thank you very much, Joel! Nice of you to have answered to my request.
I feel there's something sad about the story you just told. I wish I could know it better.
Je serai à Montréal bientôt! Je veux tout savoir à propos des Jeux... :-)
Merci beaucoup!

Minge disse...

I did take the test. My brain must be neuter. I'm a bit butch in some results, fem in others. C'est la vie!

RIC disse...

How amazing, Minge! That's exactly what happened to me. After the test I said to myself «There's no way for you to know yourself better unless you go to Greece and ask the oracle...» As it's not in my plans to go there so soon, I guess I'll have to keep on asking myself the same questions over and over again...

Minge disse...

Life seems full of questions, and every answer creates at least two more questions in my mind. It'll never end.