.::truth is in a tall beer::.

divagações, manuscritos e conversas de mesa de bar

30.4.04

patos on the road, day 3

men in tights

WE left Greetham in the morning, moderately PISSED OFF with the fact that our tent let HALF OF WHAT RAINED DURING THE NIGHT in. The near-by town of GRENTHAM was the first stop, just to fulfill basic needs of food and gas. From there we headed to NOTHINGAM, home of the famous PRINCE OF THE THIEVES, Robin Hood. The Robin Hood exhibition turned out to be a ripp-off, just a boring show with models, scenery and bad narration. But it was the main thing to see in the city, it had to be done.

dungeons & dragons

As a bonus, we could also check out some preserved caves. After looking around a little, we went to the SHOPPING MALL where the caves where - very odd, to say the least. Emily seemed a little afraid of the idea, but we went in anyway. These caves were used in World War II as bomb shelters, one of the reasons of the very small number of casualties in Nothingham. They still had old stuff inside, like posters and one of the freakyest things i've ever seen: a gas-mask FOR CHILDREN, designed to look a little like Donald, The Duck, so the kids would LIKE to wear them. My blood went cold for a while there.

After finding a place to park the car (it's amazing how it's impossible to park in England without paying, every single place has meters), we checked out one of the Virgin Megastores' five cds for thirty quid' promotions. Among others, i got myself a live album by the master Jeff Buckley, and Em bought one of the old Michael Jackson records. It's funny reading all the news about the accusations against him and listening to "I'm bad, I'm bad" and "Smooth Criminal". Heh. But the songs are still pretty damn good. Leaving, a minor disappointment: it was too late to check out Sherwood Forest. We drove by it, but it was not the same, obviously.

the earth is a cold dead place

In YORK, we managed to park in front of the hostel, and found out that the new parking laws would start THE NEXT DAY - so it was still free for the time we would be there. A bar just next door almost made me cry: Selected pints for 1 pound, and doubles for 2 pounds - what a place to live. The beautiful night made the river that goes through the city look even better, and a walk in the narrow streets was the most pleasant part of the day. Really really nice town. We checked out some bars, got too scared by the 80's Club, with its SPINNING PLATFORMS and DISCO LIGHTS, and ended up somewhere quieter.

Once more, problems at night: we got a big room just for ourselves, but there was NO HEATING. Fuck it, sleeping is boring anyway.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 15:19

28.4.04

kiss me out of desire

A sempre divertida revista Maxim botou nas bancas esses tempos uma edicao que dizia:

NAKED GIRLS KISSING: is it pornography or art? Figure it out in the next 52 PAGES OF PICTURES.

Achei uma questao pertinente, relevante pro contexto dessa sexualidade livre de hoje em dia.

E dizem que o bom jornalismo morreu.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 17:46

26.4.04

oguen

Eu reclamei pra assistencia tecnica de alguns problemas e eles estao trabalhando no caso - imagino ser esta a razao do meu sistema de comentarios TER DADO UMA BANDA. Me foi prometido tudo resolvido em algumas horas, entao aguardemos. No meio tempo, comentem as fotos e tal, que da' quase na mesma.

Valeu pelo alerta, Broecker.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 17:46

patos on the road, day 2

WARWICK had two major tourist attractions, and we went to the biggest one at first. The Warwick Castle is considered the most complete of all the many many in Britain, as we were told buy the nice FLUTE-PLAYING GUY outside. Nonetheless, it didn't seem worth the abusive 13 quid being charged, so WE PASSED, and just admired it FROM BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE. The other interesting thing was the Leyster Hospital: originally some kind of monastery, full of strange decorations and utopian commandments, now it is an asylum for army veterans. In return, they help out with the also famous Queens' Gardens.

rain down on me

In the first time that history really hit me in the chest, COVENTRY presented us with a cathedral bombed in World War II. On the floor, on one of the sides, a memorial for those that passed away. Made it look a little too real, more than i'd have liked it to be. Left me thinking how it would be going to the concentration camps, in Germany.

Before leaving town, the first measure to cut down expenses: sandwich ingredients and packs of Guinness, the only beer that can stay in a car for days and still taste as good.

give the gentleman some samples

We stopped at GREETHAM, just because of the cheap camping provided. On one of the intervals of the rain, we pitched our tent and went for a walk. Animals i'd never seen in person and a cute old church marked the way until the pub, where i started what would be a tradition: drinking the local ale (flat, room-temperature beer, the only one the brits consider "real beer"). Since they had FOUR, the owner made me try half a glass of each in about ONE MINUTE, so i was close to drunkness very fast. The evening got more pleasant after that... heh. They also had a nice sense of humour.

Sleeping proved to be a nightmare, since our tent got FUCKING SOAKED, and everytime we touched the walls a WATERFALL was cast upon our heads. It was too cheap, we should've known. But it was a long day, so we collapsed anyway.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 16:44

24.4.04

i am the lizard king, i can do anything

Exceto manter as promessas que faco, aparentemente. Conexao lenta aqui, a falta de um abrigo confortavel (estou transitando entre a sala e o quarto devido a nao pertencer oficialmente a essa tao apreciada morada) e dias AZULADOS tem me mantido ocupado demais pra parar, pensar, escrever, divulgar. Acontecera' logo, apesar de tudo, antes que outro hiato ocorra - esse bem maior, envolvendo travessias oceanicas, festivais e vans.

No meio tempo, Londres chama, queima, a primavera e' melhor do que a mente mais otimista poderia esperar. Ombros, umbigos e pernas a mostra, bares vazios, todo mundo bebendo nas calcadas, varandas e parques. Did you ever had the feeling that you wanted to stay when you had that feeling that you wanted to go? Toda hora agora, toda hora. Minhas ferias ainda duram uns bons tres meses, talvez mais, muita coisa pra decidir depois. Quase tudo ja' cogitado, discutido, imaginado. Em breve terei que me mexer, e ai' A COISA COMPLICA.

Mas nao da' nada, tudo ha' de se resolver. Como ficar preocupado quando o sol brilha desse jeito dia afora? Sinto o cheiro do brunch vindo ali da cozinha, vejo meus amigos passeando pela sala, tento entender por que diabos estou escutando NELLY; no fundo da consciencia uma vozinha repete incansavelmente: VIVER E' MASSA.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 12:43

21.4.04

patos on the road, day 1

After struggling pathetically against the HANGOVER FROM HELL (see previous posts), i managed to do all the stuff i had to just two hours behind schedule. At that point my girlfriend was already set to go, and the car parked in a side road. She had to pick up her glasses on the other side of town, so we left, with all the optimism possible, to figure out how hard it was to drive on the other side.

drunk enough to drive

What most people don't realize is that pretty much everything is changed on the damn car, not only the steering wheel. You drive on the left, pass other cars through the right, shift gears with the left hand, open turns to the right, sharp turns to the left. With all of that, i have to admit: it's not hard at all. The only real problem is getting used to your left side, it's common getting too close to stuff in the beginning. Me and Em hit the kerb once each and that was it, no other problems throughout the trip. Driving in London was the real issue: strange roads that change names after a while, no names on most of them, no parking anywhere, insane bus drivers... i like the public transportation a lot more now, i'll just say that.

to go or not to go

After abandoning the original first destination of Stratford-Upon-Avon, where the only real interest is that Shakespeare was born there (we decided we didn't like him that much), we headed towards WARWICK - it was getting late and food and accomodation were the main concern. A cool looking inn (pub with bedrooms) was the chosen, even with the BLOOD-SUCKING prices (65 pounds) - i called on the useful but painful don't bargain, pay the price motto, specially 'cause it was not to be repetead on the following days. The place was a preserved building from 1472, and belonged to a small group called "The Old English Inns". Among the attractions, sets of armour and SMALL FREAKY DOORS (apparently they were all midgets back then). Big comfortable room, as well.

road signs and rock stars

Here, the first one of the strange signs and inscriptions found in the way.

There's more to come. Much more.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 23:33

ye olde readers

Voltei. Agradeco a todos que me xingaram por nao atualizar o site nessa minha breve ausencia, mas realmente nao foi possivel. Entre responder emails gigantes e tentar descobrir o que acontecia na minha (ex)casa atraves do site mais atualizado do mundo, nao havia tempo suficiente - especialmente considerando que eu so' tive acesso a internet umas tres vezes. Valeu mesmo, e volto com vontade de retomar as atividades mais constantes nesse blog, que anda meio abandonado.

Inicia-se logo ai' acima o relato dessa minhas ultimas tres semanas de viagem. Por insistentes pedidos de alguns de meus (ex)flatmates e da minha namorada, escreverei em ingles. Tambem tem parte minha ai', ja' que pretendo guardar essas estorias por um tempo, e me irrita de certa forma nao poder usar acentos ou cedilhas nesses teclados europeus. Considerando que uso bastante da lingua breta aqui, e ja' postei bastante coisa em ingles sem receber reclamacoes, vai assim mesmo. Tentarei manter a tradicao da GROSSIDAO CAPSOLECKEANA e das piadas infames. Pra quem discorda e acha que eu deveria postar em portugues, :-L.

Aproveitem ae.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 23:14

6.4.04

take me somewhere nice

Bobo que eu sou, deixei pra arrumar tudo no ultimo dia. Ingenuo que sou, aceitei o convite pra ir no Market Place, bar cheio de GENTE NOSSA, pra algumas cervejas casuais. Do nada aparece um grande contingente de PESSOAS LEGAIS que eu nao via faz uma cara e ai' FODEU. Minhas tentativas de ir pra casa fazer coisas necessarias foram rechacadas com semi-violentas afirmacoes de it's your last day, HAVE ANOTHER SHOT. Nada mais foi feito no dia e hoje parece que esfregaram um BOMBRIL ENFERRUJADO no meu cerebro. Ainda assim, ta' quase tudo feito e minha COMPANHEIRA acaba de driblar armadilhas burocraticas e pegou o nosso VAUXHALL CORSA, e procura desesperadamente um lugar pra estacionar nesse exato momento. Em pouco mais de uma hora deveremos estar na estrada. Massa massa.

Por obvio que ficara' complicado achar tempo pra postar nos proximos vinte e poucos dias, assim como responder emails decentemente (desculpa, Martha). Tentarei, ainda assim. Enquanto isso, acompanhem noticias de Londres atraves do site do Henrique, que deve contar, entre outras coisas, como foi a nossa viagem a Bournemouth, a CIDADE MAIS BIZARRA DA INGLATERRA. Depois eu desminto tudo.

Acho que era isso.

FUI.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 11:49

1.4.04

my milkshake brings all the boys to the door

Exite uma distincao meio clara entre musica dance/eletronica e rock/pop: o primeiro tipo normalmente e' apreciado ao vivo em festas e raves da vida, e o segundo em shows. Nem sempre. Algumas semanas atras fui assistir o Basement Jaxx, e vi que musica dance boa e' boa em qualquer ocasiao.

O grupo, meio desconhecido mundo afora, e' aclamado por critica e publico aqui - o hino "Where's your head at?" foi das poucas coisas que ficaram famosas, com clipes na MTV e trilha sonora de propagandas nos EUA. Convencido pela Mariana que seria um baita show, comprei os ingressos e o ultimo cd. Como ela tava certa. Luzes, teloes, negronas mandando muito nos vocais e a galera toda pulando e dancando, MUITO MUITO MASSA. Melhor show que eu vi aqui, considerando o quesito ESPETACULO (seria dificil comparar qualquer outra coisa com o Radiohead se fosse so' julgar pela musica). Mesmo so' conhecendo algumas musicas (a abertura com "Good Luck" ja' valia o preco da noite) dancei afu e sai' de la' com um sorriso de orelha a orelha.

Cheguei em casa pra encontrar o Lique, na sua primeira noite aqui, e ficar com uma das melhoras lembrancas desses ultimos meses.

Valeu por me arrastar pra la', loira. Fiquei te devendo uma.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 13:35

ei, chan marshall, vai tomar no cu!

Cat Power, ontem, pior show da minha vida, provavelmente. A guria ficou uma hora e meia fumando, bebendo, punheteando o violao e o piano com melodias inventadas e fazendo piadas de mau gosto. Ela cantou DUAS musicas de seu repertorio e mais uma do Will Oldham, e foi isso. Ainda disse entre risinhos, antes de avisar que o show tinha acabado, you are very mad at me now, right e sorry for your £16. Falta de respeito foda.

O Lique, indignado, queria pedir o dinheiro de volta e reclamava sobre a dificuldade de processar pessoas famosas; eu so' gostaria de ter podido assistir o amistoso da Inglaterra e ter passado algumas horas com meus amigos, agora que minha saida temporaria se aproxima. Pena tambem de saber que o show podia ter sido muito bom, ja' que ela tem a manha.

Mas se eu eu encontro na rua dou uma concha na orelha, bem dada.

[por Francisco Mahfuz] 12:56