Everyday Robots

(They didn't know where it was going on, but they knew what it was, wasn't it?) So I get to this point. Hoping it doesn't sound like a long path, interrupted by some corner. Tricky would say hell is there. That precise place where I'm turning 360º. And in that moment I'm looking around and watching myself in the other faces. I was driving my life in the opposite way. And now what? Just like all the rest. Everyday Robots. Until we press 'restart'.  Again.

We are everyday robots on our phones,
In the process of getting home.
Looking like standing stones,
Out there on our own.

We're everyday robots in control,
In the process of being sold.
Driving in adjacent cars,
'Til we press 'restart.'

(They didn't know where it was going on, but they knew what it was, wasn't it?)

Everyday robots just touch thumbs.
Swimin' in lingo, they become,
Stricken in a state of sleep.
One more vacant seat.

For everyday robots getting old,
When our lips are cold.
Looking like standing stones,
Out there on our own.

No Scrubs

Nihilism it's not bad temper. It is total rejection of established laws and institutions. Anarchy. And by definition, philosophically, can be expressed as an extreme form of skepticism that denies all real existence, or the possibility of an objective basis for truth. I don't quite understand how people turn to drive in so dark paths. I see many people on the streets. Some of those desperately searching for freedom. However, every human being have the right to chose how to live. Sometimes things go wrong, and the road turns out a dead end. I've just found out (here) that five percent of the homeless in Lisbon have higher education (college-level studies/ university degree). For example, the Bankrupt Juggler, as himself announces, is graduated in pharmacy.  

«O Malabarista Falido» @ Chiado, Lisboa 

What will become of us? I hope that every single person will make an effort to increase the culture of life willing to be the centre in all circumstances. I don't judge. I don't take a step backwards. And I don't bother too much but the world worries me. I know what I don't want. And I ask myself constantly What is the plan? I start to think about the upcoming days and I get so confident that I answer the seemingly straightforward question by repeating my sentence: I know what I don't want. And life gets easier believing in a world made with rules. It's just like taking a good picture - apart from the technical process -, by following the right steps: respect people; look for emotion; get out from your comfort zone; choose the right light; don’t follow the crowd; and, most important of all, do what you want with passion, because the world will see it right away. That's why I love covers, music can be transformed just by overcoming styles.

Between the Bars

One simple voice can sometimes mean it all. Now imagine: the cold staying behind. I might increase the A/C, otherwise the glass can fog over. I'm feeling very warm and certain of the life I chose. I know I'm smiling. But who cares what other people think? We all should be smiling about the way we live. By the way, I don't need my car anymore. I don't need a lot of things I used to have around. Suddenly, the song ends. I can say I like that. Just as the rain never slowing down at the end. When it stops it just stops, and I look to the sky to be sure before closing the umbrella.

Useless

The transformation of sounds is not a vain whim. Nor any kind of art is useless. When remixed, music may become totally different, many times even better. General trend is the pace be dragged, so the original versions are normally smaller. Once the tone is set, we can´t leave the hammock until the end of the song, since there are no large variations in rhythm. It's good to stay and listen and think. Electronic music is also to dance and chill, preferably with eyes closed, imagining that life is an immense tale dreamed. Of course after we open our eyes it all seems useless. «Watch the clock on the wall/ Feel the slowing of time/ Hear a voice in the hall/ Echoing in my mind». I'm sure master Zhuang Zhou would put some butterfly wings on this thought.

Safe and Sound

It seems that today the weather was dreadful. The greatest storm in many years. Fortunately, I did not realize anything. Thanks to the metro. Thanks to the warm and sheltered spaces of the city. Thanks to all your messages that kept my heart even warmer. Thanks to life as it is. A big place to dance in our particular way. Believing that I can only be happier helping others to feel themselves at least as well as I do. Distances are very relative things... You have always been close from that far far far away from here. And «even if the sky is falling down/ I know that we'll be safe and sound.»

Strokes vs. Doors

Any resemblance between them is not mere coincidence. Regarding the previous post, I have just come across Julian Casablancas' quote*: «Put simply, because of The Doors, I chose music as my life path. I was actually drawn by the instrumentation primarily, as well as by Jim Morrison of course. As musicians I found them to be unique and masterful. Their songs, as well as the atmosphere and intensity they created, had a tremendous impact on me growing up.» I have this feeling that, if I was born ten years later, I would have had my bedroom walls covered with posters of this other J.

The Strokes, 2001

The Doors, 1967

* Full interview: here.

You Only Live Once

My thoughts of the day. A person like me who grew up listening to The Doors, finds in this band a kind of second chance to recognize what is pure rock n' roll. And The Strokes go far beyond this similarity. For example, the charisma of Julian Casablancas, grabbing the microphone from an intimate way - and what would Beth Gibbons say about this male version of herself... -, even the whisper of his voice that doesn't quite sing. The Strokes are huge. With all the excesses inherent for a band of that size. Addictions are always expected. Not only in music: Philip Seymour just died this week. Is there a way to escape from this mess they are in? There's no need to study famous person's lifestyle, but we can take a minute to think about it: Will the weight of being a star the reason that makes a star fall? And who can say for sure that would do better in their place? The truth is: You only live once. 

Falling

Rain was falling. Wind was blowing. People were smiling. The music was the laughter surrounding us all. The best lights were the youth and the absence of flashes. New stars were born. Sympathy embracing all souls. Each look peeking its own dreams. Every face looking for a different place. And definitely something in the air representing the sense of utopia. It is very difficult to take it all into a photograph. What a day. What a day. What a beautiful day.

For Pete Sake @ Edifício Panorâmico de Monsanto, Lisboa 
(w/ Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5)

Some people have music inside them. And shine like children. They keep glowing in every green atmosphere, regardless the trees and the grass being away from the kindergarten.

House

Programming tomorrow. What to do with one band, the beguiling landscape of Lisbon and some rain? No music expected. We will have to improvise. Try thinking in parts: A young girl called Shell, her brother, and four more elements. Remember: No instruments are expected. I'm anticipating an open-sky gallery that was once the panoramic building Monsanto, but I have never been there. Focus: Seven thousand square meters, broken tiles over the floor and walls dressed with the wind. I can even foresee vacant bodies climbing and walking down the stairs. The dome can protect us. For a few hours, it will be a good place to be, just like a little tree when the rain comes, a house.

Home Life

Home life. I wrote and told almost everything I knew. Life at home protects me. I repeat things many times. Again, I say I pretty like the number twenty nine but can't remember why. Many days are gone. The month has changed. I haven't taken my nephews to the lap. I have exaggerated the tantalizing spices of food because I'm with a lack of flavor. I haven't seen the nights and they are just lurking around. I do not know if the berries have been picked from the vines. I don't know anything happening in the earth. Never was a farmer. Never a magician with a crystal ball. Never got in a time machine. I miss you and I remember to rephrase it in Portuguese. "I miss you" and I only said I have miss seeing you peel oranges, so you don't miss me.