Mondays

I'm off to the gym.


Busy Monday: couldn't sleep last night, so today didn't get up on my full energy potencial


Then, got at work a bit late


Then, on the lift, tidying myself up, my pantyhose got a hole


Will Monday end peacefully?

(Teddy)Bear Knut

In Berlin's Zoo, there was a white and fluffy controversy: little baby polar bear Knut who was rejected by his mother. He was in danger of being executed, for apparently representing a problem if raised by humans in the zoo (in socializing later with his own species). He was the only surviving polar bear to be born in captivity in over 30 years... But animal rights and pleas from tons of people prevented the little thingy to be put down and he is now safe.

Check these photos on the slide and be delighted by this cutie.

Goran Bregovic ft Kayah - Nie ma, nie ma ciebie

One of my favourites from Goran with Kaya, a polish singer with a powerful voice. Enjoy. I love the instruments...

Ausência - Goran Bregovic (Cesária Évora)

Goran and Cesária...very nice and warm.

The new queen of Cabo Verdean morna

If you like mornas and Cesária Évora, then you'll like to read this article in The Independent, about Lura, a great new singer who's following the footsteps of Évora.

Mapa da Austrália

O mapa português da Austrália Este mapa marítimo do século XVI da costa Este da Austrália, pertencente a uma biblioteca de Los Angeles, prova, segundo um livro recentemente publicado, que os portugueses foram os primeiros europeus a descobrir aquele país, antes de britânicos e holandeses. Em "Beyond Capricorn", o jornalista Peter Trickett explica que este mapa é a peça do puzzle que faltava para provar que Cristovão de Mendonça chegou à Botany Bay com uma frota de quatro navios em 1522, quase 250 anos antes do capitão britânico James Cook. O mapa descreve com precisão e em português vários locais ao longo da costa Este australiana.

Foto: Reuters

Público

Homens!

BULA DO HOMEM

Indicações:

Homem é recomendado para mulheres portadoras de SMS (Síndrome da Mulher Sozinha). Homem é eficaz no controle do desânimo, da ansiedade, irritabilidade, mau-humor, insónia etc.

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Posologia e Modo de Usar:

Homem deve ser usado três vezes por semana. (só ???) Não desaparecendo os sintomas, aumente a dosagem ou procure outro. Homem é apropriado para uso externo e interno, dependendo da necessidade.

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Precauções:

Mantenha longe do alcance de amigas (vizinhas solitárias, loiras e/ou morenas sorridentes, etc). É desaconselhável o uso imediatamente após as refeições.

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Apresentação:

Mini, Max, Super, Mega, Plus, Super Mega Max Plus e "Oh meuDeus!!!".

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Conduta na Overdose:

O uso excessivo de Homem pode produzir dores abdominais, entorses, contraturas lombares, assim como ardor na região pélvica. Recomenda-se banhos de assento, repouso e contar vantagem prá melhor amiga...

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Efeitos Colaterais:

O uso inadequado de Homem pode acarretar gravidez ou acessos de ciúmes. O uso concomitante de produtos da mesma espécie pode causar enjoo e fadiga crónica

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Prazo de Validade:

O número do lote e data de fabricação encontram-se na cédula de identidade e no cartão de crédito.

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Composição:

ATENÇÃO: Não contém SIMANCOL.

Cuidado!!! Existem no mercado algumas marcas falsificadas, com embalagem de qualidade, mas que ao ser aberta apresenta um produto inócuo ou prejudicial. Ou seja, produto que além de não apresentar efeito positivo pode agravar os sintomas.

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Instruções para o Perfeito Funcionamento de Um Homem:

1. Ao abrir a embalagem, faça uma cara neutra; não se mostre muito empolgada com o produto. Se ficar muito seguro de si, o homem não funciona muito bem, vive dando defeito.

2. Guarde em lugar fresco e seguro (pois é frágil e facilmente contaminável).

3. Deixe fora do alcance de pseudo-amigas.

4. Para ligar, basta uns beijinhos no pescoço pela manhã, para desligar basta uma noite de sexo (ele dorme como uma pedra e nem dá boa noite - falta de educação é defeito de fábrica).

5. Programe-o para assinar talões de cheques sem reclamar.

6- Carregue as baterias três vezes por dia: café, almoço e jantar.

ATENÇÃO:

Homem não tem garantia de fábrica e todas as espécies são sujeitas a incontáveis defeitos (falhas de carácter, falta de personalidade, futilidade, instabilidade emocional, imaturidade, egoísmo e "mania de maria vai com os outros" são algumas das falhas mais comuns).

A solução é ir trocando até que se ache o modelo próximo do"ideal". Recentes pesquisas, no entanto, atestam que ainda não se conseguiu inventar tal .

*My books*

I'm reading this book at the moment and I love it, it's by John Mortimer.

Also bought 2 books in Vips - Trade Wind by M M Kaye, another British writer and Omamory by Richard McGill.

Have no more shelves to put my books on, I guess there's two things I love - books and clothes and both their respective places of rest are totally full (this flat is too small).... Well, the influence comes from home, as Mum doesn't know where else she can stack more books and Dad keeps getting them shamelessly, hahahaha.

I'm also listening to a very cool internet radio station all this time at the pc, it's http://www.di.fm/ and you'll love it. I always choose either Lounge or Chill Out. Now they're playing the whole Supperclub Rome 6 album and it is really nice, especially the cool version of Summertime by Jurr and Roelove feat Wendy Lewis...

It offers all sorts of music genres, without commercials. Great company.

Weekend

The weekend was for bichinho get used to us.

We went for a nice ride on Sunday, to the countryside. We did a picnic in the woods, where the river water lapping and the birds singing were the only sounds detectable in the air. We almost fell asleep on that idyllic place. Bichinho liked it aswell.

We will certainly get back there, as it makes out as a great escape from the big polluted city at weekends, where the only refreshing option in the coming months will be our swimming-pool. I already have plans on what to buy to further enjoy it: need to get fluffy mattresses for the concrete floor (who, in their right mind, would make a swimming pool relaxing area out of concrete!?). Last year, what saved my back was my sheer joy of having my own pool (shared with my neighbours, of course) and the adrenalin somehow masked the pain my back was incurring on those long hot afternoons, when sunbathing till 9 pm wasn't an option, was a need...

This year, I'll become a proper neighbour and leave my possesions overnight by the pool, marking my territory. No young tenants will take my spot.

Ah, the joys of summer.

Spring is round the corner and today it seemed we were back at winter, wind gusts and drops of temperature opened this week. Not good for the humour, especially when Ali is out of the office and I'm his backup... Listening to his clients makes me shiver. Ok, they're from Oporto like us, but that accent makes me nervous! How can you speak like that, mr??? Get a grip or go to school!

Kisses

Zero 7 - In the Waiting Line

Very mellow song. Perfect for the end of the day...

Headline of the day

In El País, this headline made my sister obsessed with it, as it was so funny:

Un niño chino de cuatro años mata a 443 pollos a gritos

Apparentely a frightned little boy killed 443 chickens with his own screaming! Is this for real?

Poor Dad had to pay a lot of money of compensation to the annoyed owner of the silly animals...

I bet he is proud of his boy!

Me and my bichinho...

we went for a ride, to get to know each other. After all, it was our first date. I showed him my neighbourhood, my work, my favourite places to go... We spent two hours together and when we had to part our ways, I made sure I left him right where I could see him, in case of a sudden 'missing him' moment....

Ah, the joys of having your own first bichinho....

cafe del mar

Is it just me or aren't we all missing those long summer days and nights? Everytime I listen to any Café del Mar song I get so nostalgic of sand and sea and sun...
3 more months, right?...

International Day of the Working Woman

And why is it International Day of the Working Woman? Is a housewife included here? And a student?

Our boss decided to give the women in the office a red rose each. I keep thinking a little raise on our salaries would balance things better between us and men... In Spain, the majority of women still get paid 30% less than their male counterparts.

Promises

After all, my bichinho will only be mine on Tuesday!!!! Arrgghh, and what should I do over the weekend, now that I already had lots of places to go to??

Promises! Bah!

Papi

Papi, vai tudo correr pelo melhor! Não te preocupes!

Vamos estar contigo no coração!

Amo-te muito!

Bichinho

Just payed my car's insurance...(sniff)

By Friday I can pick the little thing up...right on time for the weekend.

I call it Bichinho, which is hard to translate to English but it's more or less little fluffy pet (hahaha)...well, more or less. It's also my own little abreviation of Mitsubichinho... Ok, I know, leave it Ana!

In any case, it's my new toy! And I can't wait to have it!

Any ideas where to take it (around Madrid)?...

Absolut

ABSOLUT vodka is one of the top selling brands, only second to Smirnoff in the vodka market. It has been around for more than 100 years and it's drinkers are drawn to it, not because of its distinctive flavour, but mainly because of its amazing marketing. Since 1979 it has been marketed as Absolut and its blue lettering on a simple bottle are recognisable almost everywhere. TBWA are the responsibles for its great success, by creating so far more than 1200 ads for the drink. Absolut Purity became Absolut Perfection and then a bottle with wings became Absolut Heaven and so on...

Here you can find the compilation of all the ads so far.

Apparentely in the US these "bottle focused ads" are not available anymore and boring ads are taking over. Fortunately in Europe the motto 'don't change a winning horse' is still known and we can still enjoy some amazing ads.

In the meantime, you can see the latest bottle to come out in the market, in chrome (apparentely to appeal to a male audience): Absolut 100.

Goldfrapp - Utopia

Very classy song. Retro chic, as it should.
Just thought of sharing, you know I love you guys! You're getting educated on my taste.

Car

Comparing car's insurances isn't equivalent of fun...

But buying your first car is....

YUUUPPPPIIIIII!

The Gift - Music

One of the best examples of The Gift, our portuguese very own great band! Enjoy.

Barcelonaaaaa!

Hello,

well, it seems that it's not only me who spends little time lately devoted to their blogs and totally abandon their purpose of relating thoughts and events to the blogosphere...

I have a few excuses, as I always try to demonstrate, therefore I'm going to use one more again and that is plenty of work. Have I use this one already? Well, I guess I did and it only shows I'm a very busy girl.

But enough of excuses and let's go to what matters: my trip to Barcelona. The weather was sunny and warm. Got straight from the airport to the Fair and started acting like a saleswoman: smiling at passersby, offering candies, asking if curious people needed help explaining our different papers and their uses, etc etc... It was ok. The best thing there was this:

This was a Formula One simulator that our competitors from Portugal (who's cool?) brought to captivate attention, and oh boy, did they get it! Everyone was queueing to get a race out of that cool thing. The guys, after I introduced myself as one of their suppliers (on other area) didn't want me to leave without trying it, which I did the next day, as I was already wearing less formal clothes (my first day dress would make it impossible for me to even get into that little cabin, to start with).

Everyone was really nice there, as we were all on the same boat - having to stay there and try to sell. On Sunday, me and a colleague went for a look around and brought plenty of beautiful posters to plaster a whole house...They were giving them away and many were done with our paper, so we had a point. The printers from where they were coming out were so big, they occupied a different pavillion altogether.

Enough of Fair and work. On Saturday night met my friend and other Portuguese people and went out for dinner where some of the guys tried kanguroo meat, for the disgust of some on the table.

On Sunday met again, this time on a more conventional restaurant, but it was almost touch and go, as they had already tickets for a film starting in around 50 mins, so you can imagine how quick was eating dinner.

On Monday, my first holiday day, went all over Barcelona, it brought back nice memories from the last time I stayed for 2 months. Barcelona is indeed unique and it's a continuous delight. But I guess all that airconditioned at the Fair gave me a bug and felt a bit sick, so didn't go out at night and tried to stay awake in bed watching the Oscars. Obviously I didn't remain awake for long... Next day was more or less the same walk around town and back to the airport, where the delays on the flights to and fro Barcelona are everyday's bread. Arrived around 10 pm at Madrid, right on time to watch Dr House.

It was cool! Barcelona rocks!

I'm in love....

And it was love at first sight...

You like it?

Tiny miracle baby

Amilia, the world's smallest premature baby has survived and is now ready to go home. She was born the length of a pen and doctors didn't expected her to survive. No baby born before 23 weeks has survived and Amilia was born at 21. She only weighed 280g.

Technology is now creating new standards!

Madness or publicity stunt?

Britney has gone bald. Maybe madness or a cry for help?

Judge for yourselves...In any case, bald men are thanking her putting shaven heads back into fashion (hihihihi)

The dolphin with a broken heart

Times Online has this news which stroke me a lot. Read:

When the young dolphin was rescued from the Adriatic Sea, distressed and bruised, she was nurtured back to health by a dedicated trainer who took responsibility for her care.
Now the trainer is dead, the victim of a frenzied attack by her neighbour — and the dolphin, apparently, is dying of a broken heart.
The extraordinary story of love emerged yesterday as keepers at the Oltremare water park in Riccione appealed for international help to save the life of their dolphin.

The dolphin's name is Mary G. and since her trainer's is dead, is refusing to eat. This can only restate the fact that animals do have feelings and emotions, maybe in primary states, but they do feel sadness or anger.

Los animales de dos en dos

This is everyone's favourite ad recently.
There´s the English version, longer, but the translation into Spanish is nicer...
Everyone is sorry for the litte piggy left behind.

This is 'Johnny, I hardly knew ya' music version transformed into a nursery rhyme that goes more or less like this:


The animals went in two by two, hurrah! hurrah!

The animals went in two by two, hurrah! hurrah!

The animals went in two by two, the elephant and the kangaroo

And they all went into the ark, for to get out of the rain.

Girl you know it's.......true

Do you remember Milli Vanilli?

Yes?
They're back!
No, not singing (sorry, miming) but their story of fraud and embarracement.

Milli Vanilli, like so much of life in the 21st century, were all about the packaging - two long-haired, buff-chested guys who looked great on stage and on album covers and effectively acted as a front for a musical operation organised almost entirely without them. Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, the two hunks in question, were the creation of a record producer called Frank Farian, who first hired them in Europe and then brought them to the United States as their careers started taking off.

The lives of Morvan and Pilatus did not go smoothly after they were exposed. Pilatus became addicted to drugs and carried out a series of robberies, earning himself a three-month prison sentence at one stage. He died of a drug overdose in 1998, just as the pair were getting ready to release a comeback album featuring their real voices for once.
Morvan, meanwhile, has persisted on and off with his musical career. Despite taking numerous voice lessons, however, he has never proved to be a winner, commercially or critically. He has had to work as a Los Angeles radio disc jockey and as a participant in a Fox television reality show called Celebrity Boot Camp.

They were simply pawns of an unscrupulous music industry... The film will apparentely be based on their version of the infamous events.

Medina Mayrit

Medina Mayrit was the name Madrid had between the 8th and 12th centuries. Muslims, Jews and Christians all shared this city.

This is also the name of a relaxing place we found out while killing time to go to the movies and see Little Children, which we loved.

This place is in the same building as this very appealing arab restaurant which was the one captivating our eyes. Paradise has a discreet entrance. We have to ring the bell to be allowed in and once inside you can tell you are going to love it. It has this air of secretism behind those doors. We got the panflet and promise to come back for a bath + massage. Oh yes!

Children

Our children are being neglected. That's the conclusion of a study by Unicef done in all industrialised nations. The authors say they used the most up-to-date information to assess "whether children feel loved, cherished, special and supported, within the family and community, and whether the family and community are being supported in this task by public policy and resources".

Notice UK and the USA...

CHILD WELL-BEING TABLE
1. Netherlands
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Spain
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Italy
9. Republic of Ireland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Canada
13. Greece
14. Poland
15. Czech Republic
16. France
17. Portugal
18. Austria
19. Hungary
20. United States
21. United Kingdom

Source: Unicef


REPORT CATEGORIES
Material well-being
Family and peer relationships
Health and safety
Behaviour and risks
Own sense of well-being [educational]
Own sense of well-being [subjective]

Valentine's

Is Valentine’s Day more about marketing or romance?

Nowadays, more of the first, I’m afraid. In fact, this day was created for the business. Since there was a shopping gap between Xmas and Easter, it was needed to fill it in with something. And who can say no to LOVE?

Roses double fold their prices in these days; chocolates’ firms release special bonbon editions; massages are now the new trend (the couple is massaged simultaneously, in a very relaxed atmosphere – I almost had that experience, in China, with my friend Pedro. I say almost, because it wasn’t very relaxing, as the massage types we chose were a bit on the harsh side. The first half hour was a Japanese shiatsu kind of torture, as although we were fully dressed, the knots of the masseuse’s fingers still went through our skins, tendons and muscles leaving us in pain, for 28 mins out of 30. The second part of this experience comprised of extra hot stones right on our already pained backs. If it wasn’t for the masseuses’ audible burning pain in their hands, it could be semi relaxing. But the girls were picking up the extra hot black stones with their bare hands and they couldn’t hide their discomfort… And we felt we were being burnt all throughout. So much for the relaxation the brochure promised. We went out of there in a mix of relief and pain. That was my couple massage experience. Maybe not to repeat.)

In any case, Valentines is everyday, right?

PS – my horoscope promised I was going to receive good news today at work… I’m waiting!

Jamiroquai - Runaway

Can you dig it? Something in the air tonight....lalala

Beatrix Potter

Just came back from the movies. This time everything went as normal, just noticed that 3 lonely guys were watching this film all by themselves...

The film wasn't an action packed movie, it was Miss Potter. Quite sweet.

For the ones who don't know who Miss Potter is, look at the pic below, as it might give you a hint. Just a fact: she was the most selling author of children books.

THE TALE OF
PETER RABBIT
BY
BEATRIX POTTER

ONCE upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.
They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree.

'Now, my dears,' said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, 'you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.'

'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out.'

Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries:

But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight to Mr. McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate!First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes;
And then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr. McGregor!Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out, 'Stop thief!'Peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate.
He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes.
After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.
Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great excitement, and implored him to exert himself.Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him. And rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not so much water in it.
Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn them over carefully, looking under each.
Presently Peter sneezed - 'Kertyschoo!' Mr. McGregor was after him in no time. And tried to put a foot upon Peter, who jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor, and he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his work.
Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can.
After a time he began to wander about, going lippity - lippity - not very fast, and looking all around. He found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath. An old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood. Peter asked her the way to the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer. She only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.

Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he became more and more puzzled. Presently, he came to a pond where Mr. McGregor filled his water-cans. A white cat was staring at some gold-fish, she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.

He went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe - scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. Peter scuttered underneath the bushes. But presently, as nothing happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheel-barrow and peeped over. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His back was turned towards Peter, and beyond him was the gate!

Peter got down very quietly off the wheel-barrow, and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black-currant bushes.
Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden.
Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds.

Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree.
He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole, and shut his eyes. His mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight.

I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening.
His mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to Peter!
'One tablespoon to be taken at bed-time.'

But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries, for supper.

If you like these stories, check this site. These are beautiful classics, our children should listen and read them, as they are the cutest thing.

nouvelle vague

Just a cool little song. Love it...

Babies and earthquakes

Yesterday was a key day for Portugal: for the second time round people had the chance to get involved directly in politics and have a say in the remaking of a law. Last time in 1998, people weren’t so interested, and the referendum participation was below the 50% needed for a legal ratification.

This current government also wanted to change that law and again it asked the people to vote and decide. The referendum was about a very delicate question for us, Portuguese, as we are, together with Ireland and Poland the most conservative in this field. I’m talking about legalising abortion.
Our law, the way it is written, only allows interruption of pregnancy in case of rape, malformation or danger for the mother’s health by solely decision of the medical class, and not the mother herself.
If the mother-to-be decides she wants to end her pregnancy, she has to do the abortion in an illegal backroom, usually with unsanitary conditions and paying around 1000€… Risking being found out and going to prison, as it is a crime, according to our law. Punished with up to 3 years sentence.

The referendum yesterday was posing the question if we agreed to change the law, by allowing women to voluntarily end up her pregnancy in a legal clinic, up to the 10 weeks of gestation.
In a very Catholic country but with plenty of available contraception – for free – this topic is very difficult to reach a consensus between the ‘pro-life’ and the ‘pro-freedom of choice’.

The law will pass, abortion will be legalised.
Today’s earthquake (5.8 in the Ritcher’s scale) was, according to some, a divine punishment for those who voted for the legalisation.
Who knows? J

Ahhh, weekend!

WEEKEND!!!!

I'm getting to the gym right now and then it's officially lazy time! Hooray!

Many options to fill in these 2 days:

* cinema

* cooking nice warm food

* last sales quick tour

* drinking tea and cookies on the sofa

* looking for nice cute cars

Ahh, the joy of the weekends... Bless!

Bug Alert

Look what my computer revealed to me today, the poor thing... That's what happens when you leave it all by itself for some time.

It obviously isn't interested in anything but sweets and attention. It's only fair I treat it to a little snack... (Is it my PC or me ;) ? )

Kisses

PS- found it in Ana's blog and you can find some more of this stuff here.

hi

Just to say:

HELLO

Fundas and cinemas

Ok, Ikea out of the way...



This is my funda nórdica.












Also bought a bed cover.
And some sheets. And this is it in what bed clothes are concerned!

Yesterday went with my sister to the movies to see the opening of The pursuit of happyness.

We loved the film, especially as it's based on a true story. Watch the trailers on the link.

But we went through a cool experience on the movie theather. It started as the lights went off around 8.15 (movie was starting at 8.20) and for around 10 mins we were all in the dark with no pictures on the screen. There was obviously a problem with the projector, and people kept turning themselves on their seats to look up there to the little window. In the meantime, there were no lights and the theather totally full of mainly foreigners (it was a Original Version movie). At some point one of the many mobile phone lights pointed at the screen and its ownwer started to move his hands . The shadows were projected and everyone giggled a bit. He saw there a good chance to stand out and the next shadow was a butterfly. We all laughed a bit more. The light went off and the next Chinese shadow he came up to (he had been practicing in the dark) was a dog eating and barking. At that one which was really good, besides laughing he also got applause from all of us. The next one was a rabbit, but we only laughed, the dog was the best!

*Photos of 2006*

If you have a tiny bit of time to kill, go and have a look at this site » http://msnbc.msn.com/id/16094272 .
It's a compilation of the best pictures of all over the world events and it is very cool. Enjoy!

Lunch

Today we had a Lebanese lunch at work, as a colleague who is half Lebanese had his birthday turning 30 and offered us scrumptious food. Everybody in the office was eating pita bread and humus, and all the very nice things he brought. Recipes were exchanged as the majority loved the food. As for me, I was innundated with questions about my trip to Beirut and how much Lebanese food had I; which one was the favourite; what kind of meat is used, etc etc. It was a nice gesture and tomorrow he will be given a nice prezzie from all of us.

Ikea's bedroom

Ikea left thousands of catalogues downstairs. It's the new 'bedroom for 07'.

Do you want to miss the most modern tendencies? Go now and pick one of these catalogues from your neighbour's mailbox and sit confortably on your Ikea sofa, pull your Ikea blanket up, drink some tea on your Ikea mug and relax. Enter the world of Ikea's bedrooms...

(came in quite handy too, we were looking for fundas nórdicas for quite some time... Do you actually know what fundas nórdicas are? hihihihiihi)

Is it me...

...or I'm not being a good blog owner?

My poor blog is nostalgic of those days of multiple posts, with many uploads and colours, laughs and comments from all over...

The reasons of this non-activity can be found on:

> my moody days

> my eye surgery

> my internetless week

> my lack of exciting facts to share

> my boring days (sniff!)

> my non existing life after working hours

> my work

> my sister, who uses the laptop all night long

> me???

This is not a 'take a pick' option kinda thing. It's the whole list! (sniffffffff.....)

Catching up...

Yes, yes, I know...long time no see.
In a nutshell:

- spent an internetless week at home (coincidentely we changed operators a week before and that week was the transition, quite a good timing hey?) where days were slowly passing by, for my own comfort. It was also cold outside, so I managed to choose a good week to stay home alone. Nah, it was a bit boring, actually, given that I had a red eye and the prospect of going out wasn't tempting, especially in this country where the genre violence is the highest in Europe, maybe in the world, who knows?
Last year, 70 women were murdered by their partners or ex-partners and this year this figure is starting to grow - 3 so far, and it's only January.
Anyway, needless to say that I was happy not to go to work, although bored.

- then, it's the sales month, so one has to be active during this time of the year (that week at home set me back quite a bit!). Not that we bought a lot, but it's always good to have a look around.

- during the weekend, gave a dinner here, I cooked my best chilli con carne, and also went out on boring Sunday afternoon for a coffee and a muffin in 2 Chueca coffee shops, Isolée and Diurno. Met a new Portuguese girl, and talked about banalities, including my plans to buy a car for my own self.

- yesterday, went back to the gym, after that week's absence and it felt good. Tonight thought of going back, but dinner at Vips and then the viewing of Dr Rouse (Spanish interpretation of the famous doc) sound a bit better :)

- booked my flights to Barcelona to the end of next month, going Saturday and coming back on Tuesday. Would like to see my dear friend over there and enjoy 2 days of turism in that beautiful place (Saturday afternoon and part of Sunday are spent at Graphispac fair, poohh!)

- and now, excuse me, but going to bathe myself, it's my best moment of the day, coming back home and just relax....

PS - did I tell you we are going to stay in this flat, at the end? The landlord was understanding and was did 'rebajas' on the rent!!! Not that my persuasion didn't work, it's just that he likes us :)

Marie Antoniette

Yesterday we went to the movies and watched Marie Antoinette, the new Sofia Coppola's film.

Can someone tell me what modern-age element appears in one scene? Quite funky too!

If you check out wikipedia you'll find quite a big deal about this amazing woman.

Mowgli (feminine version)

In Cambodia a woman apparently living in the wild for around 19 years has been found in a jungle.

She was described as half human, half animal and she cannot speak any language. She must be around 27 years old and she was naked and walking in a bending-forward position like a monkey. She was bare-bonnes skinny and shaking. Her eyes were red and always glancing left and right, left and right. Her father recognised her by a scar in her arm and her family is watching her after she took off her clothes and acted as if she was going back into the jungle...

Can you believe it? It reminds me of Mowgli, of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, about the boy who was raised by wolves and his friends: old wise bear Baloo and Bagheera, the sleek black panther. In our ultra modern times, these odd situations still exist and make us wonder about our progress and how much we have developed. How it's all so relative. Maybe this girl was also happy like Mowgli and his jungle friends and thought of herself as one more. Is this a rescue or a sentence to her?

Catching up...

I guess I'm part of the 60% of workers who check jobsites whilst at work...
Besides showing a bad sign about people's attitudes at work, it also shows that many people aren't loyal to their companies, i.e., don't feel happy enough at their current jobs and are willing to take chances. I'm always willing to try new things, as once I learn how to deal with something I look for something new. I couldn't be a maintenance manager or something that'd involve routine as the main task (like in a production line), as I'd be out of that in a blink of an eye.
So, basically, I'm on the look out. If I see something interesting, I'll go for it. My Dad left a cool book about how to elaborate a decent CV and how to market ourselves efficientely, so when I'm done with the book, I'll translate my CV into Spanish and off I go! Full of confidence and taking it easy. You'll see me!

As for the promised sunset, have a look and think how the Phoenicians must have liked that spot! We were near Byblos, one of the most ancient known cities in the world, looking at the sunset. Nice, no?...

Other news: currently looking for a cheaper 2-bedroom flat and a cheap car... Talking about utopias, right? We have it more or less assumed it is a waste of time, as no landlord in Madrid rents one out for less than what I have now, given all the conditions and area. But, in case I won't keep this one I'm in now, we'll have to settle for something less exciting (no swimming-pool, no 24 hour doormen, no car park, no gym at the end of the street). I'm trying to sort a meeting with my landlord to somehow persuade him to let us stay for less than now...Uff, I guess I will need lots of convincing to do, as for him to slice 25€ off it was almost the end of the world, therefore an inmense task of persuasion is ahead of me... (Should I bake some cookies and stuff to sweeten his heart?)

The car, well, that will have to take a while, as I want to see as many as I can. After all, you're buying a commodity, something that you must trust upon and rely on, so I would like to be convinced I'm doing a good business. I'm inclined to buy semi-new, which is to say, less than 20.000 km used car, sometimes it's quite worth it, as the age of the car is usually quite low and the price is quite different as if I bought a 0 km car.... I'm quite ignorant of all car things, so I guess I will wait for a guy from work who's away, to come and advise me, as guys know best about these things...

Vacations

Coming back to work has been hard, with so much stuff to do, so many things to think about at the same time, visits at home the same day I come back from holidays...Well, only today I think I'm gathering a bit more of my thoughts and myself.

As for the holidays, they were cool, any holidays are good, as long as we don't come to work, right? For the first time, I had a New Year's Eve without champagne or sultanas (as tradition obliges), but I had a great time. Met so many new people (it had been ages since I met so many new people at once) and was very welcomed over there at that turbulent yet beautiful part of our world. The thing about Lebanese, from what I aprehended is that they are very positive, optimistic and above all, resilient.

The fact there are tanks on literally every corner, barbed wire on major locations, soldiers with their M-16's (I took enough care to know this name) and hundreds of campers in front of the President's office Downtown, all these things going on and people still walk around as if nothing is happening. Of course there is tension, 2 years ago we didn't feel the same around town, but it's nice to see that life goes on, no matter what. And the sun set is quite nice, from that restaurant on the cliff...

I still have the pics to download, as I told you, no free time, lately. But I will post that pic of the sun set and you'll know what I mean :=)

New Year

Just a quickie to say HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!
Hope your new year will be eveything you wish for!

Take care sweeties, I'll be back!

Some funnies

Thought of leaving you in this period with wishes of a Prosperous, Healthy and Lovely Year in general for you guys, may 2007 bring all your desires to your front door!

Thought also of leaving you with some comic strips to put a smile on your face whilst I'm gone.

Holidays/Vacaciones/Férias

I'm going on holidays tomorrow, the blog will be closed for inventory!

Me voy de vacaciones mañana, el blog estara cerrado para inventario!

Vou de férias amanhã, o blog vai estar fechado para inventário!

What a JOY! ¡Qué PASADA! Que BOM!

Countries

create your own visited country map

These are the countries I've visited and lived so far...
African and South America are future targets :)

Lebanon

Before the year ends, I just wanted to remember about the war in Lebanon that got us all shocked and feeling helpless whilst watching children die on tv, like in any other stupid war.

I've been to Lebanon once and was impressed by how beautiful it is, not only Beirut, but its surroundings, like Tyr, Byblos, Tripoli and of course, the great Baalbek with its amazing Roman temples still standing.

The kindness of the people was also a very nice surprise, as everyone was happy to help and curious to speak with us.

The food was also very good, with a few vegetable dishes toping my list of favourites (falafel, goat cheese pastries) and not even mentioning the sweets, which follow the Arab tradition and are as rich as the Emirs and Princes of the region... They are baked with so much honey and butter it's impossible you don't like them, as they melt in your mouth.

The wine, yes, the wine is also very good. We only basically know Chateau Kefraya but apparentely it's one of the best of the country.

Having said so, I quote The Observer which analyses the pivotal moments of 2006, from which I took this.

14 August

Israel takes aim at Lebanon, but ends up exposing its vulnerability as Hizbollah goes from strength to strength

Thirty-four days of war, 1,400 dead - the majority in Lebanon, and almost $4bn in damage to Lebanon's infrastructure alone by the Israeli bombing. There have been arguments about the causes of the conflict of Lebanon's Summer War, and whether a raid by Hizbollah to capture Israeli soldiers to trade for prisoners on 12 July should be seen as the start point. What is certain now is how far reaching the consequences have been since the ceasefire.

Both the raid and Israel's massive military response were characterised by huge strategic misjudgments, a fact that Hizbollah was quicker to recognise than Israel. The war was pointlessly shocking, as both sides blindly bombed and rocketed civilian centres. It is the aftermath of the war, however, that has changed the political and military landscape.

For the month of war has punctured two abiding myths in the Middle East that have attached themselves to Israel's strength of arms. The first is that a country with massive military and technological superiority will win a conventional war. The second is that of the invulnerability of Israeli arms. The ability of Hizbollah's lightly armed fighters to destroy the heavily armed Israeli Merkava tanks has become a potent symbol across the region.

That myth of invulnerability was always one of Israel's most powerful deterrents. Suddenly the Israeli Defence Forces look vulnerable. To Islamists it seems Israeli soldiers, in contrast to Hizbollah, are interlopers who lack the stomach to die for what they believe. Having declared its victory over the Israelis, Hizbollah is now threatening to lead Lebanon into a new civil war, as it tries to bring down the country's government and take a more powerful role in its affairs.

But the consequences are likely to be more widely felt than solely in Israel and Lebanon. Hizbollah's most powerful sponsor, Iran, saw its greatest international foe sink in Iraq. Now it has seen Israel falter. It marks another important step in Iran's rise as a regional power. For the Lebanese war represents a check for Israel that makes it less likely that Israel would risk an attack on Iran's nuclear sites, with Hizbollah still intact on its northern border and still, in relative terms, lightly policed by the beefed-up UNIFIL peace mission.

Christmas is over...

Christmas is over, with a few leftovers for next days' meals, some nice presents unwrapped and some more grams (not to say Kilos) to live with.

Although I'm sounding very nostalgic, I enjoyed Xmas this year here in Madrid. We had all the typical food and appetite as before, so what changed was the view out of the window and the un-illuminated tree...

Because we are such a small family (this year without any boyfriend attached), it goes very smoothly and quick.

I'm glad we can be together, no matter where :)

Some Christmas questions answered...part 2

How does a teaspoon inserted into an opened bottle of champagne ensure it keeps its fizz overnight?

It doesn't. This is an urban myth perpetuated by uncontrolled experimentation. People leave spoons in their bottles and find that the wine is still fizzy the next day, so they presume the teaspoon was the reason. However, if you leave an opened bottle of champagne overnight with no teaspoon in the neck it will be just as fizzy. The truth is that champagne takes a long time to lose its fizz. It's not uncommon to attach significance to apparently linked events, which is why science always uses controls to separate real data from presumed data. This experiment works just as well with cava, and as two bottles are needed, it's significantly cheaper that way.

Go on and try it out, buy Champagne and Cava... leave some overnight and drink the rest next day... Put the spoon in and the other let it sit there. Drink it. Taste it. Enjoy it.
All for the cause of Science!

Some Christmas questions answered...part 1

Why do people always feel sleepy after eating Christmas lunch?

After a meal, the levels of glucose in the blood are obviously high, and high blood glucose levels can switch off the brain cells that normally keep us awake and alert. Orexin neurons in the brain produce proteins, called orexins, which play a pivotal role in wakefulness. Glucose inhibits orexin neurons, making us feel more sleepy.
Sleepiness is the body's way of telling us to relax and conserve energy once we have found and eaten our food, and probably developed as an evolutionary response to being seated after a meal. By the same token, when we are hungry, the neurons are not inhibited, and we are alert enough to go in search of food - a sensible evolutionary precaution.

Did it explain your latent doubts or didn't I go into enough detail?
Hungry anyone?...

Bears aren't hibernating anymore....

Global warming is changing habits in animal behaviour, as the winters are getting milder and it's energetically worthwile to stay awake to hunt for food instead of sleeping...

This article I took from The Independent and it really is amazing how the weather is gradually in fact, changing so many aspects of our world.

"Bears have stopped hibernating in the mountains of northern Spain, scientists revealed yesterday, in what may be one of the strongest signals yet of how much climate change is affecting the natural world.
In a December in which bumblebees, butterflies and even swallows have been on the wing in Britain, European brown bears have been lumbering through the forests of Spain's Cantabrian mountains, when normally they would already be in their long, annual sleep.
Bears are supposed to slumber throughout the winter, slowing their body rhythms to a minimum and drawing on stored resources, because frozen weather makes food too scarce to find. The barely breathing creatures can lose up to 40 per cent of their body weight before warmer springtime weather rouses them back to life.
But many of the 130 bears in Spain's northern cordillera - which have a slightly different genetic identity from bear populations elsewhere in the world - have remained active throughout recent winters, naturalists from Spain's Brown Bear Foundation (La Fundación Oso Pardo - FOP) said yesterday."

Impressive, han?

Spirit

Christmas is coming! I'm starting to feel a bit of the spirit (I smell it nearby...) Maybe if I go to the city centre and see all those nice illuminations and thousands of people busily shopping, then I'll get it. So far, not so much - need to get out more!

Phobias

I was reading an interesting article on the free mag that I got on my bus to work the other day.

They say the 2 most common phobias are claustrophobia, where one is afraid of small places and its opposite, agoraphobia, phobia of open spaces.

Nonetheless there are thousands of registered phobias which aren't as usual and which seem strange, to say the least.

For example:

• triskaidekaphobia - fear of the number 13;
• soceraphobia - fear of parents-in-law (aren't we all afraid of them? :) )
• chromotephobia - fear of money (Apparentely, it's not the universal fear of loosing it, but HAVING it!!!)
• hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - panic of long words!

The list goes on, but I leave you with these ones only, for you not to become fearful of reading this blog, for it's too boring! Blogphobia!

Gucci

This is going to be my Xmas gift to myself...

Do you like it?

Xmas party

Our Xmas party was yesterday.

We left the office on a bus direccion the karting circuit where we were going to race 100 laps in teams.

We had a light lunch at the kartdome, and after some drinks, fresher's singing Xmas carrols and distribution of symbolic presents (yes, that's what they must be called, I don't think a freebie from my company, namely a fleece sweater, is a proper Xmas gift! But that's gamble, our names were ruffled and that's what I got anyway!). Today we had the proper official present which is a wine kit box (our customers presents are better!).

Anyway, we were then set to train a bit and the adrenalin was high as we dressed up our red racing suits and helmets! We looked very professional, except for the shoes (it was a surprise party, therefore nobody knew what would be the appropriated clothes to wear. I had high heels on, which made me look weird, all sporty and helmeted on black stilletos, hihihihi).

Yes, it's me under that black hell of a helmet! Ali looks all professional, no? Like Ayrton!

I run 50 laps, tried my best, was hit several times on the laps, hit a few times on the laps (that was fun, coming from behind our boss and slam him against the rails!!!), did really good times on each lap (the best of my team!!!!) and had a great time in general. Loved the races.
We didn't end well, as one of my team had a bit of an accident and that delayed everything! I tried my best to compensate, but it was too late, it was a loner's last effort :)
Here's the big boss who ended up first (of course, he's the boss!), Ali's team ended up second and the macho boys third.

We then had a bit of a dance and more drinks and ended up the night singing flamenco songs on the bus home....oh Dear!

Today, we have a few missing, allegedly sick, and the ones here at the office are rather hurt (the karts kill, our arms and legs and back are hurting, it feels the karts run us over!!!). We got other presents coming in today and more Xmas cards, so the day isn't as bad as it might have looked in the morning, while dragging our ached bones out of the bed!

I have 4 bottles of Champagne, 3 boxes of chocolates, a wine set and 15 kg of oranges to take home. All in the public transportation... I think I will miss the gym for a few days, my ached body can't take any more tumbles!