Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

The pirate's b-day is happening today...


Where's my video Ron and Ange?
Okay... it's Ange's video...

Enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday, Angeline
YOU DESERVE THE BEST OF LUCK AND LOTSA LOVE

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Someone's latest addiction...


http://www.pocketfilmsfortravelers.com

Black and White Assignment

Photoblogs or albums are made to register exquisite frozen moments -- the perfect fraction of a second... That second which is found within the existence of everyone and everything.

Unlike videos, photos are supposed to release meaning without motion; it won't move for it is pure frozen magic. It can't launch any odor since fragrances pass on and fade away due to motion. It will never sound since sound waves exist when moving.

I majored in Journalism from 1994 to 1997 in Brazil. Photojournalism was among my favorite college courses. The fact that it was an enjoyable subject to me didn't make me a good photographer, unfortunately. I wish I had taken that course more seriously. Maybe I could've learned a little more. I could've gotten the perfect snapshots but that actually never happened.

Earlier today, while checking some Sebastião Salgado photos on the Internet, I ran into a photograph which caused me to reconsider my old college assignment pictures. That photo linked into my "social glance" that I tried to keep in my early shots. I am very fond of black and white photos and Salgado's work is definitely outstanding, IMHO. Most of my college assignments were done Black&White. I went to my old files and figured - "who cares if these photos weren't professionally taken and developed?" I've gotta admit attempting being professional. I tried. I did as much as I could. I am aware that my college assigned photos never got any closer to Salgado's work (dah!) but it only made me wonder...

I'm older now. "I ain't a fuckin' journo! Aight!?!?!" A firm BOY would say... I am not gonna be ashamed of my old work. So, some of them ended up being posted at this photoblog. Those photos aren't good at all. They are provoking in its own way, anyway. In short, they are simply "laila-nice" and that's it. What does "laila-nice" mean? According to my poor visual and organizational skills, a "laila-nice" photograph may be depicting shades, perspectives of some sort, and especially "odor", "sound", texture, feelings and all that with or without meaning. To come up with a meaning had never been my goal. To accomplish the assignments back then, yeah!

Most of the pictures found on that photospot are latest - some of them were taken a month ago. If you decide to take a peek at them, you oughtta know that you'll find portraits, landscapes, erotic figures (those haven't been posted yet), nature elements, children (love them), and many other assignments there. Hope you like them. I've decided to start this photoblog, even feeling lousy about my own snapshots, because I appreciate taking photos to pass on not only 'possible-meanings' but also to reveal the plain power of that frozen magic which lies in each fraction of a second in the existence of all beings and things.

This is a snapshot taken thanks to the timer of my good old Yashica FX-3

Friday, February 16, 2007

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Das ist ein NICHT-NICHT

I've been watching zillions of Sacha Baron Cohen's videos on YouTube and on PeekVid lately. I understand that he creates controversial characters and that his humor is pretty difficult to digest.

I don't blame all those who feel offended by his sketches or interviews on HBO and especially now that Borat's documentary has come out worldwide. Anyone can say that he's NOT politically correct.

Borat's movie is what hubby would call "Globalized World Sense of Humor." We go through times when pretty much everything is allowed, except killing, pls. Along with that, I'd say that Cohen's comedy is just like Andy Kauffman's work, but finely modernized. I myself found the movie a delight. It amazingly turned out to be the most offensive and insanely vicious film I have ever seen. I caught myself literally laughing so loudly that I certainly annoyed everyone else around me, except for the fact that they were laughing louder than I did.

Sacha B. Cohen is horribly bright though it is quite difficult to grasp cleverness on making cheap fun of others. Regardless, this is his main trick: the actor comes up with the best jokes by humiliating people and period. If the audience wants to have fun with it, it simply has to accept it. Let's take Bruno for example (see photo). This guy is an Austrian MTV host who happens to be very very 'flamboyant'. Well, he's actually gay, is currently dating a Brazilian guy (LOL to that), and is nicely spontaneous. Bruno is for real TOO spontaneous sometimes, especially on interviews.

I agree that Ali G is fun. I believe Borat is a few times disgusting but many times lovable, but Bruno is my number one Sacha's persona (I know many won't share the same opinion. Who cares?) After seeing this Bruno's interview, I figured that gays are really like him, or at least, that is what gays should be like. In other words, Bruno faces "gay haters" in a light and non-bias way (he's never shown standing up for gays which is very singular for a gay person - applauds to that.) On that video, Bruno talked to a 'gay converter' pastor as they were just equal, on the same level, which is comprehensible since they are nothing but equal. It's something like: "While you think being gay is repugnant, I find it FABULOUS!"

The highlight of that interview (Haven't you clicked on it yet? Don't take time...) is when Bruno selects a list of things, attitudes, or traditions that could be considered gayish according to the pastor's opinion. The gay TV host sets a rule: whatever is seen as being a GAY thing, the pastor must say: "That is a NICHT-NICHT", and whatever is not, then that would be called an AH-JA. I laughed so hard at that. The NICHT-NICHT list is hilarious just because it is widely accepted by Bruno (again: who is GAY). That made me wish to make up my own list of NICHT-NICHT stuff too. Here it comes:

1. If eating "very very very" chocolate is a NICHT-NICHT, what would the pastor say about eating "very very very" chocolate chip cookie dough by sticking the tube of dough into a person's mouth and pushing and pulling it, like pumping the thing, you know, going back and forth so that the cookie dough melts down, or maybe, the person gets choked??? Well... I would consider that a bit NICHT-NICHTER than a mere chocolate bar.

2. If you are a male person and own a box of all Mariah Carrie's best albuns, you oughtta double check your sexual preferences. Nothing can be more NICHT-NICHT than that. Besides, there are more items that could lead men to the NICHT-NICHT world. For instance, if they own any Divas Live DVD, tank-tops of all colors, clear or colored nail polish (nein, nein... if a man manicures and colors his nails, he does want to take a walk on the "brown" side!), Vaseline, Miatas, real jewelry, fake jewelry, fake plants, beach sandals, all kinds of GUNS, and Hawaiian T-shirts... These are 'bad/naughty' signs. Watch out you all.

3. There are sports that may be NICHT-NICHT too: Greek-Roman Wrestling is one of them. But to me, the NICHT-NICHTEST sport ever is GOLF. Check this definition on golf by Wikipedia: 'Golf is a sport in which players or teams hit a "ball" into a "hole" using clubs, and also is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed standard playing area. It is defined in the Rules of Golf as playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.' I've always wondered why that "chocolate face" golf player is called Tiger Woods... wowowoweewow!

4. Another NICHT-NICHT factor IMAO is speaking by using NICHT-NICHT words or terms. And let me list here a number of some gayish linguistic units:
a)Nibbles: 'Nibles everyone! I've made them from scratch!"
b)So: 'Mom said I'd been acting like gay. That pisses me off because that is SO not fair.'
c)Fab, Fabulous, or Fantabulosa:'I loved to spend vacation in Venice. It was really FAAAAAB.'

5. And finally, if you are a male person and have ever worn any of these costumes on Halloween: Diana Ross, Nina Hagen, Richard Simons, Batman, Robin, a Policeman or any kind of officer's uniforms... NICHT-NICHT BUSTED there, mein Freund. Willkommen to this minority group.

PS: Try also these videos 1 and 2.

Vacation and New Kitty in the Block

Is hope a feeling? Hell, yeah.  Is burden a thing? Double hell, yeah. Since vacation started (there is no accurate date when it ...