This site is being under major overhaul. However, the blog won’t disappear. Please, come back soon!

Who said working and studying at the same time was easy? I’m not complaining, I’m only trying to apologize for not writing more often.

Work is great! I’ve been much more involved with things and I think I’m doing fine. I’ve also acquired a new function: translator. I’ve translated [...]]]>

Who said working and studying at the same time was easy? I’m not complaining, I’m only trying to apologize for not writing more often.

Work is great! I’ve been much more involved with things and I think I’m doing fine. I’ve also acquired a new function: translator. I’ve translated quite a few documents for multinational companies and in the beginning of September, I worked doing simultaneous translation (language interpretation) in a Coca-Cola event. It was an event involving the South African, Brazilian, Ukrainian and Polish Coca-Cola teams, in which the South African Coca-Cola team shared with the others their experience in hosting the FIFA World Cup 2010. It was a very challenging job for me, but (I guess) in the end everything went fine.

College is good too, the first round of exams went great. However, I haven’t managed to make any real friend yet, but I guess I’m much more blended if compared to the last term. So, I believe I’m on the right path.

As for the personal life, nothing has changed. I still go rocking with friends on the weekends and that’s pretty fine for me. I did miss the Rio Film Festival though, which is a shame. And for tonight, hell yeah! I’m seeing Rush live. You know, that Canadian band with 3 old guys playing rock on a huge stage full of special effects in front of thousands of people? Well, that’s them! Seeing Rush live is one of those things everybody should have on their “things to do before I die” list. I do have it on mine and I’m crossing it out after tonight.

I’ve written this post to put in my Company’s blog. I liked it very much so I’m now posting it here so you can also read it.

The purpose of this post is to emphasize how important reading is as far as learning English is concerned.

Good readers can [...]]]>

I’ve written this post to put in my Company’s blog. I liked it very much so I’m now posting it here so you can also read it.

The purpose of this post is to emphasize how important reading is as far as learning English is concerned.

Good readers can understand the individual sentences and the organizational structure of a piece of writing. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments, and detect implications. They know most of the words in the text already, but they can also determine the meaning of many of the unfamiliar words from the context – failing this, they can use their dictionary effectively to do so. In summary, good readers can extract from the writing what is important for the particular task they are employed in. And they can do it quickly!
Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge. In other words, students who have a large vocabulary are usually good readers. This is not very surprising, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read extensively, and if you read extensively you are likely to be or become a good reader!

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary.

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves

greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as those from the days of yore and makes us sensitive to global issues.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s Read!

Article based on “the importance of reading for academic success” by Paul Shoebotton and “the importance of reading” by Damian Sofsian.

Have you ever used Amazon’s Wish List to gift someone or be gifted? Well, I haven’t. Nor I know someone who has. I don’t know how common it is abroad, but here in Brazil I’m not sure how popular it is. Probably not popular at all.

I’ve just created [...]]]>

Have you ever used Amazon’s Wish List to gift someone or be gifted? Well, I haven’t. Nor I know someone who has. I don’t know how common it is abroad, but here in Brazil I’m not sure how popular it is. Probably not popular at all.

I’ve just created my wish list just for the sake of it. Why not? I was really having fun while I was building it. Anyway, I need books in order to succeed in college and to be a good professional in my field of work. So, if you want to help me with that, I’ll really appreciate it. If not, I won’t be mad at you. Don’t even worry! hehe

The wish list is here: http://amzn.com/w/598QS9EA0TF1

It’s isn’t that big, is it? Most of the books in it will be bought really soon and many more books will be added to it in the forthcoming months. A nice personal library is on its way!

I guess I forgot to write something about the end of the last term at University. I remember writing about the results of my first round of exams, but never wrote anything about the second and last round. Shame on me, I know.

Anyway, the results of the second [...]]]>

I guess I forgot to write something about the end of the last term at University. I remember writing about the results of my first round of exams, but never wrote anything about the second and last round. Shame on me, I know.

Anyway, the results of the second round were ok. My performance dropped a little bit if you compare to the grades I had on the first round. This is probably due to my very own lack of study. I felt really comfortable with my first results that I kind of underestimated the rest of the term. Subjects accumulated, time to study was tightened due to lots of work and therefore my final grades were not as good as I expected them to be.

Am I disappointed? Not really! That was a lesson learned.

Now, week 2 of the second term will start. So far, so good. The subjects I’m currently studying are:

English II (verbs and narratives)

Literary and Historical Fundaments of Anglo-American Culture & Civilization (that’s the one that seems to be the most interesting in my opinion)

Fundaments of Portuguese Literature

Pedagogical Practice I

Portuguese II (Portuguese Syntax)

I’ll keep you guys informed about how things will develop for me during this term. Hopefully, everything will be fine.

Differently from most people I do not have an all time favourite song nor film. I would even find it extremely difficult to create a top 5 all time favourite song or film list, like High Fidelity’s Rob can. But then, he does not actually exist, does he?

For [...]]]>

Differently from most people I do not have an all time favourite song nor film. I would even find it extremely difficult to create a top 5 all time favourite song or film list, like High Fidelity’s Rob can. But then, he does not actually exist, does he?

For the past 10 days or so I’ve had 4 or 5 favourite songs of the moment. First was ‘Coming Home’, then ‘Isle of Avalon’, followed by ‘The Talisman’ and ‘When the Wild Wind Blows’. I’m not really sure if ‘The Man Who would Be King’ has ever reached the top of the list. But it can easily get there. It’s just a matter of, hmm, a matter of… Well, I really don’t know. It just happens, if you know what I mean.

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

This is due, of course, to the new Iron Maiden album ‘The Final Frontier’, which was released last monday. The album has 10 songs and half of it were on my ‘temporarily’, or as I prefer to call, favourite song of the moment list. This shows you how great the album actually is despite of all the changes in the band’s style. It’s more progressive, it’s more beautifully written (songwise and musicwise), not as strong as before but full of nice feelings and although it’s a long album, you don’t get tired of listening to it.

It’s the best Maiden album since ‘Brave New World’ and I even there to say, maybe the best since ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ and it’s definitely worth a listen. Totally recommended.

I’m not Paul, the octopus, but until yesterday I had guessed all the results of the FIFA’s South Africa World Cup 2010 (I’m not considering the group stage, of course!). I don’t have reasons to lie. You, who talk to me on a daily basis, can prove this.

Yesterday [...]]]>

Paul, the octopus.

I’m not Paul, the octopus, but until yesterday I had guessed all the results of the FIFA’s South Africa World Cup 2010 (I’m not considering the group stage, of course!). I don’t have reasons to lie. You, who talk to me on a daily basis, can prove this.

Yesterday I bet on Uruguay’s willingness, braveness, strength and high morale against Germany’s technique. I was wrong and Paul was right. It was a tough, exciting and beautiful match. I’m glad I sat in front of the TV for almost 2 hours. Today I’m also betting against Paul. In my humble opinion, The Netherlands is going to win the match and something tells me it’s going to be an ugly and nervous game. Spain has better players, they play more beautifully and have more skills, but I don’t know, The Netherlands simply seem to be a better team. Am I going to tie my personal challenge against Paul? I hope so.

I never believed in the Brazilian team. Everything was wrong with them, starting with our coach, Dunga, who had never been a coach before and was clearly an invention of nobody knows who. Well, I should say starting with CBF’s chairman, but then, this would deserve an exclusive post about it. We even didn’t have the best players in that team, who were left out without much explanation.

Another team that impressed me (in a good way), but I also did not believe was Argentina. They had a great attack, great players, but no defense at all. And, of course, Maradona had never been a coach before, it was another invention of stupid people, just like Dunga was. It’s not because you were one of the best players in history that you’ll be a great coach too. It doesn’t work that way.

Brazil World Cup 2014

Oh, and the logo for Brazil’s 2014 World Cup? Who else thinks it’s extremely ugly?

I know I haven’t been around for quite a long time. There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, because I wanted the Dio post to stick on top as a humble way of showing my admiration for his music. Secondly, because I haven’t had much time. Who [...]]]>

I know I haven’t been around for quite a long time. There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, because I wanted the Dio post to stick on top as a humble way of showing my admiration for his music. Secondly, because I haven’t had much time. Who said working and studying at the same time was easy? Thirdly, because I’ve been quite active on facebook and twitter. And if you are wodering, no. I won’t be replacing this blog for them. And last but not least, my life is pretty boring! Nothing exciting happens, therefore I don’t have much to write about.

***

My second round of exams at University started last Thursday. The first exam was ok, I guess. I believe I won’t have problems to pass that discipline. The exam that worries me the most is tomorrow’s. And guess which discipline it is? Portuguese! Go figure, hehe. As for the others, I don’t believe I’ll have many problems either. What is interesting to mention here is that I haven’t study anything at all for those exams. I guess I pay really attention tho the classes. That’s the only reasonable explanation that I can think of.

***

We’re about to enter the third week of the World Cup and I haven’t written a single line about it before. shame on me! Well, it’s been a boring Cup. The good teams are failing (see England, France, Spain, Italy, Holland and Germany) to play good football. Well, let’s put Brazil in this list too. This Brazilian team sucks big time. And the thing is, even playing horribly, Brazil still has big chances of winning this cup. And then, that would be terrible for the good of football.

The best team I’ve seen so far is Argentina, but I don’t know… Something tells me they’ll leave in the next rounds. They have an awesome attack, but their defense is the opposite. They’re not a well balanced team. In that category, I shall say Brazil has some advantages, in spite of the poor football. I promise to post more about the world cup as the games get more exciting, ok?

***

I think I’m in a band again. Last week we had our first rehearsal. The second would happen today, but the drummer had problems and wouldn’t be able to come. So we put it off for next week. The singer is a friend of mine, Renata and we’ve played together before. The drummer and the guitar player are Renata’s friends. They seem to be nice people. We still need another guitar player or a keyboard player, with preference for the latter.

We’re starting with 5 covers in order to get to know each other, to let things blend in and see with have chemistry, this kind of things.

***

I’m quite interested in this girl. But I’m afraid she doesn’t even know I exist. Why is it like this all the time? That’s frustrating!

There’s a lot of flirtation (mostly from her side) with this other girl on msn messenger. I do believe she’s interested in me, but the opposite doesn’t happen. I’ll keep playing the game, let’s see where this leads.

Two weeks ago a friend of mine said: “I have this friend that I’ll present to you. I think you have things in common with her”. This meeting hasn’t happened yet. I don’t know when it will, but I’m looking forward to it. The forthcoming weeks should be interesting.

Yesterday afternoon I went to my cousin’s house to jam with him. He had invited his other cousin who plays the guitar. So, there we were: one bass player, one keyboard player, one guitarist and one stereo. We needed the stereo, so that we could hear the singer’s voice [...]]]>

Yesterday afternoon I went to my cousin’s house to jam with him. He had invited his other cousin who plays the guitar. So, there we were: one bass player, one keyboard player, one guitarist and one stereo. We needed the stereo, so that we could hear the singer’s voice since none of us can sing (properly, I mean). We jammed three songs: Man on the Silver Mountain, Rock ‘n’ Roll Children and Rainbow in the Dark, and the voice we heard in the stereo was, of course, Dio’s. It was like Dio was there, rocking with us in that small cold room.

Well, since this morning (7:45 am) Dio, one of the greatest rock singers of all time, is no longer with us. He lost his battle to cancer. My eyes are teary while I write this small paragraph and I do not feel very well to be hones with you. I’m very, very sad. What gives me strength is knowing that his music will last forever and whenever I jam Dio’s song, I’ll be thinking of him and I’m sure his spirit will be present.

As Dio sang many times: Long live rock ‘n’roll.

Ronnie James Dio (1942-2010), rest in piece.

Last week was the end of my first week of exams at college. I currently have five disciplines and my grades were as follows:

Portuguese I – 7.3

Psychology of learning – 8.5

Introduction to english syntax – 9.0

Strategies & techniques of teaching ESL (english as a second [...]]]>

Last week was the end of my first week of exams at college. I currently have five disciplines and my grades were as follows:

Portuguese I – 7.3

Psychology of learning – 8.5

Introduction to english syntax – 9.0

Strategies & techniques of teaching ESL (english as a second language) – 7.6

Text production – 8.0

In Brazil, universities grade from 0 (total failure) to 10 (excellent), where 7 is the least you can have in order to pass the discipline. So, I consider myself pretty good so far. In fact, if you consider the fact that I hadn’t studied a bit for any of them, I was quite surprised by my great good grades. Besides, there’s also the fact that being in college and having to study a lot, was something I was not used to doing since a long time ago.

Anyway, let’s the second round of exams come (in the middle of June). Can’t wait for them!

Speaking of my previous post, well, I still don’t think I belong. Well, let me re-phrase that. I do belong, but I do not blend in. There are already several groups in my classes and I feel isolated. I don’t blend in any of them. I really don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s not that I don’t talk to people there. I do. But in isolated cases only.

I’ve survived the first week of college without any apparent collateral damage. The campus itself seems to be great, the people around me seem to be normal and the professors seem experienced and very nice people. So, in general, I’m pretty satisfied. Now, it’s on me!

It’s ages since [...]]]>

I’ve survived the first week of college without any apparent collateral damage. The campus itself seems to be great, the people around me seem to be normal and the professors seem experienced and very nice people. So, in general, I’m pretty satisfied. Now, it’s on me!

It’s ages since I’d been in college and that’s why I thought I’d have problems to get on with people and fitting in. Well, getting on with people is still my weakest point. Being a shy and suspicious guy, I take a little while to start talking to people and becoming acquaintance with them. Specially with girls. And speaking of girls, there seem to be a huge number of them in my course! In one of the classes I even counted how many men were in there. I could count them in just one hand! And, well, two of them were obviously gay and the other one was suspicious. If I had to bet, I’d say gay too! So, around 30 women, 3 gay men and 2 men (including myself), I’d say only 10-15% of the women are dateable (does this word exist?). And even being surrounded by so many women, I bet with you that I’ll finish the term without making out with any of them. Wanna bet 50 bucks?

Anyway, the first week of college was ok. Can it get better? Sure can! Let’s hope that it gets better as early as the second week. I’ll keep you guys updated!

Well, the title of this post might be wrong because I believe my life is indeed on track. Maybe, what I’m trying to say is that I want to ensure it will stay on this track for a very long time, and of course, try to be a more [...]]]>

Well, the title of this post might be wrong because I believe my life is indeed on track. Maybe, what I’m trying to say is that I want to ensure it will stay on this track for a very long time, and of course, try to be a more qualified professional.

I’ve made a tough decision: After having huge arguments with my family, disappointing some people, spending more money than I could afford, spending hours in long queues and after a lot of bureaucracy, I’m back in college. But no, I won’t resume my previous studies (engineering), I’ll study letters (Portuguese and English languages and literature). Pretty different, right? Kind of scary, I should say… But it actually is not! I’ve been in the teaching business for quite a long time now, enough time to know that this is what I like doing. Moreover, I’ve always been fascinated by english civilization and culture, which is one of the disciplines on the letters course curriculum.

What is funny is that when I was looking for some needed documents for my college enrollment, I found my high school history. Analyzing it for a couple of minutes I realized that I’ve always sucked in maths, physics and chemistry. And I was quite good in portuguese, really good in english and only average in literature. So, why the hell I chose engineering back in those days? Go figure… Teenagers make mistakes, don’t they?

Do I regret studying engineering? Do I consider it a waste of my precious years? No way! I just think it was a part of my growing up process. I gained life experience going through lots of problems during my life, and my first years of college were part of this problems. My life taught me a lot, maybe much more than I’d learn in college. But still, I think I have a gap to fill. This gap is college, and I’m willing to fill it. Do you know what I regret? I regret not having made this decision earlier!

IRON MAIDEN are pleased to announce that their forthcoming new studio album will be called ‘THE FINAL FRONTIER‘, and is expected be released late summer of this year.

The announcement comes with news of a North American Tour with Very Special Guests Dream Theater to open in Dallas, Texas, [...]]]>

Iron Maiden The Final Frontier

IRON MAIDEN are pleased to announce that their forthcoming new studio album will be called ‘THE FINAL FRONTIER‘, and is expected be released late summer of this year.

The announcement comes with news of a North American Tour with Very Special Guests Dream Theater to open in Dallas, Texas, on 9th June and finish in Washington D.C. on 20th July, making it Maiden’s most extensive North American tour in many years.

Following these shows in USA and Canada The Final Frontier World Tour will travel back to Europe for a few selected major festival and stadium shows with the band planning to continue to many other countries in 2011 (full currently confirmed dates below).

The full Live Nation North America press release for the North American Tour is posted here.

An exclusive pre-sale allowing members of the IRON MAIDEN fan club first access to tickets to the North American Maiden Shows will be made available two days prior to them being available to the public.

Tickets for the Canadian shows will go on sale to the public on Saturday 13th March at 10am PST (10am EST for Toronto and 12 noon EST Montreal).
Exclusive first access to the tickets will be available to IM fan club members on Wednesday 10th March at 10am PST through to Thursday 11th March at 6pm PST (EST for Toronto).
Regretfully due to technical reasons an exclusive Pre-Sale in Montreal is not possible.

Tickets for the US Shows will go on sale to the public on Saturday 20th March at 10am EST.
Exclusive first access to the tickets will be available to IM fan club members on Wednesday 17th March at 10am EST through to Thursday 18th March at 6pm EST

As IRON MAIDEN are actively dedicated to ensuring their fans always have access to the best possible tickets at the fairest possible price, without being subject to scalping for good seats, so many North American shows will operate, at least in part, a paperless ticket policy: More information on Ticketmaster Paperless Ticketing can be found here

To give IRON MAIDEN fan club members a privileged insight to their touring world, IMTV will return to www.ironmaiden.com to cover THE FINAL FRONTIER WORLD TOUR. This exclusive footage includes regular video from the live shows, touring, band interviews, insights into our crew and what they do and much much more. The website will also feature exclusive tour diaries, exclusive photographs and anything else that helps the fans get a real insight into the dynamics of a big tour.

In 1978, the world was a different place.

There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. Or Twitter, for that matter.

In 1978, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Grease. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.

Remember, [...]]]>

In 1978, the world was a different place.

There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. Or Twitter, for that matter.

In 1978, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Grease. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.

Remember, that was before there were DVDs. People were indeed watching movies in the cinema, and not downloading them online. Imagine the packed seats, the laughter, the excitement, the novelty. And mostly all of that without 3D computer effects.

Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for the best movie went to The Deer Hunter. The Oscar for best foreign movie that year went to Get Out Your Handkerchiefs. The top actor was Jon Voight for his role as Luke Martin in Coming Home. The top actress was Jane Fonda for her role as Sally Hyde in Coming Home. The best director? Michael Cimino for The Deer Hunter.

In the year 1978, the time when you arrived on this planet, books were still popularly read on paper, not on digital devices. Trees were felled to get the word out. The number one US bestseller of the time wasChesapeake by James A. Michener. Oh, that’s many years ago. Have you read that book? Have you heard of it? Look at the cover!

In 1978… The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. The Holy Crown of Hungary is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II. Richard Chase, the “Vampire of Sacramento”, is arrested. Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany Persona non grata. The control tower and some other facilities of New Tokyo International Airport, which was scheduled to open on March 31, are illegally occupied and damaged by terrorist attack by New Left activists, being forced to reschedule its opening date to May 20. Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3,000th major league hit. Charles Chaplin’s coffin is found 10 miles from the cemetery it was stolen from, near Lake Geneva. A bomb explodes in the security section of Northwestern University, wounding a security guard in the first Unabomber attack. Charon, a satellite of Pluto, is discovered. The U.S. scientific satellite Seasat is launched. Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City’s Kennedy airport. Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy. Two million demonstrate against the Shah in Iran. The first Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation. The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Otello makes its first appearance on Live from the Met, in a complete production of the opera starring Jon Vickers. This is the first complete television broadcast of the opera in the U.S. since the historic 1948 one. The video game of the day was Space Invaders.

That was the world you were born into. Since then, you and others have changed it.

The Nobel prize for Literature that year went to Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Nobel Peace prize went to Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin. The Nobel prize for physics went to Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson from Soviet Union and the United States for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics. The sensation this created was big. But it didn’t stop the planets from spinning, on and on, year by year. Years in which you would grow bigger, older, smarter, and, if you were lucky, sometimes wiser. Years in which you also lost some things. Possessions got misplaced. Memories faded. Friends parted ways. The best friends, you tried to hold on. This is what counts in life, isn’t it?

The 1970s were indeed a special decade. Women’s liberation continued. The hippie culture faded. There was an opposition to the Vietnam war, and nuclear weapons. The environmentalist movement began. Tom Wolfe coined the decade the “Me decade” due to a new self-awareness. Mao Zedong died and the market began to liberate in China. There was an oil crisis. After the first oil shock, gasoline was rationed in many countries. In Eastern Europe, Soviet-style command economies begin showing signs of stagnation. The Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, witness the kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian Arab terrorists. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The Who, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Bee Gees, Abba and others play their music. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all die at the age of 27. The space mission Apollo 13 nearly ends in disaster. Egypt signed the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. There was a revolution in Iran. The world sees its first general microprocessor. The C programming language makes its debut. Consumer video games show up on the scene. Microwave ovens become commercially available. Margaret Thatcher was victorious in the UK elections.

Do you remember the movie that was all the rage when you were 15?Sleepless in Seattle. Do you still remember the songs playing on the radio when you were 15? Maybe it was Informer by Snow. Were you in love? Who were you in love with, do you remember?

In 1978, 15 years earlier, a long time ago, the year when you were born, the song Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb topped the US charts. Do you know the lyrics? Do you know the tune? Sing along.

You got me looking at that heaven in your eyes
I was chasing your direction
I was telling you no lies
And I was loving you
When the words you said
Baby, I lose my head
…

There’s a kid outside, shouting, playing. It doesn’t care about time. It doesn’t know about time. It shouts and it plays and thinks time is forever. You were once that kid.

When you were 9, the movie The Witches of Eastwick was playing. When you were 8, there was Labyrinth. When you were 7, there was a Disney movie out called The Great Mouse Detective. Does this ring a bell?

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… it’s 1978. There’s TV noise coming from the second floor. Someone turned up the volume way too high. The sun is burning from above. These were different times. The show playing on TV isThe Incredible Hulk. The sun goes down. Someone switches channels. There’s Tic Tac Dough on now. That’s the world you were born in.

Progress, year after year. Do you wonder where the world is heading towards? The technology available today would have blown your mind in 1978. Do you know what was invented in the year you were born? The Credit-card-sized Calculator. The Solar-powered Calculator. The Spreadsheet.

On Fourth Street in Louisville in 1978
Stranded in a honky-tonk, somwhere ‘tween dates
There was a little band playin’ as I sipped my beer
But I never thought that I’d hear what I’d hear
…

That’s from the song Son of Clayton Delaney by Tom T. Hall.

In 1978, a new character entered the world of comic books: Iron Cross. Bang! Boom! But that’s just fiction, right? In the real world, in 1978, Katie Holmes was born. And Devon Sawa. Nelly Furtado, too. And you, of course. Everyone an individual. Everyone special. Everyone taking a different path through life.
It’s 2010.

The world is a different place.

What path have you taken?

I really hope the explanation about the lost numbers given to us by the lost writers in the last episode, The Substitute, is not the final explanation. It can’t be something like “Jacob has a thing for numbers…” It seems a lazy, lazy explanation. There’s still a lot to [...]]]>

I really hope the explanation about the lost numbers given to us by the lost writers in the last episode, The Substitute, is not the final explanation. It can’t be something like “Jacob has a thing for numbers…” It seems a lazy, lazy explanation. There’s still a lot to explain about them. Like for example, why the hell Desmond had to push those buttons in the hatch? Why Hurley was told the numbers? And what about that Valenzetti equation that predicts the end of the world? See, still a lot to explain…

According to Kevin Shirley’s diary, a new Iron Maiden album is set to be released any time soon. He mentions that the band’s work is all done, but he still has some bits to do, which won’t take long. What I find intriguing is where the band [...]]]>

Compass Point Studio - Nassau, Bahamas

According to Kevin Shirley’s diary, a new Iron Maiden album is set to be released any time soon. He mentions that the band’s work is all done, but he still has some bits to do, which won’t take long. What I find intriguing is where the band decided to record the album. They chose no less than the Compass Point Studio in Nassau, Bahamas. The same studio where 17 years ago they recorded Piece of Mind (my favourite Maiden album), and then Powerslave in 1984, and then, once again, Somewhere In Time in 1986. Those are considered by many the top 3 Maiden albums ever recorded. So, why did they choose to record there again after so many years? Nostalgia? Probably…

There’s also a rumor that Kevin Shirley was producing the Download Festival 2007 gig they did on the “A Matter of Life and Death” tour to release as a DVD this year. I never quite understood why they didn’t release this back then. Maybe they just wanted to keep it safe to release in difficult times, which is not the case now. So, why release it now? But then, that’s just a rumor! hehe Anyway, That’s a DVD I wouldn’t hesitate to buy. That gig was phenomenal!

Here are some special treats from the Donington Download gig back in 2007:

I’ve read and heard really bad reviews about Helloween’s new album Unarmed. I can say that I understand those reviews but I disagree with them. The album was not made for ordinary people. It’s a 25th Anniversary album and It was made for the fans. And even if you [...]]]>

Helloween Unarmed

I’ve read and heard really bad reviews about Helloween’s new album Unarmed. I can say that I understand those reviews but I disagree with them. The album was not made for ordinary people. It’s a 25th Anniversary album and It was made for the fans. And even if you are a Helloween fan, you still need to have a very open mind to like and even understand the album.

First of all, let me tell you why I like the album. I liked it because it was a brave album. The band had to have guts to release it. It just proves how creative they are and have always been. They took all some of their hits and re-recorded them in a variety of styles ranging from jazz to metal with bits of folk and blues, and they did it with help from some gifted musicians around the world.

Here’s a song by song review:

• Dr. Stein: Nice jazz version with a nice saxophone and even nicer bass line by Markus Grosskopf (I want to play like him when I grow up). 8/10
• Future World: Nice slow acoustic version. 7.5/10
• If I Could Fly: I’ve never been a fan of this song and when I saw that they had put it in the album, I just said: “oh no…” But I understand why they put it. It was a single and sold really well, so… This version is not better or worse than the original. They even sound very similar. 5/10
• Where The Rain Grows: The good melody of the original saves this one. The rendition made it much slower but the far more catchy verses and chorus still managed to make it enjoyable. 8/10
• The Keeper Trilogy: The “masterpiece” of this album, no contest. Very well orchestrated, subtle notes and harmonies from the originals are emphasized and make us rediscover the songs. This song itself makes the whole album worthy.  10/10
• Eagle Fly Free: Horrible. My favourite Helloween song was destroyed! What have they done to this?  ZERO!
• Perfect gentleman: Frankly, no difference here between the original and the cover. I think the two are interchangeable. One has a bit less electric guitars but that is it. 7/10
• Forever And One: Why is this song in the album in the first place? 2/10
• I Want Out: I liked it. I admit that the kid chorus is very catchy. In fact, it joined the spirit of ‘Another Brick In The wall’ from Pink Floyd and that seems appropriate since both songs have the same theme. The cover kept that rebellious atmosphere and it remained upbeat. Good job on this one. 8/10
• Fallen To Pieces: Again, why is this here? Isn’t it supposed to be a classics only album? The original song is not good and this one isn’t very different. 3/10
• A Tale That Wasn’t Right: Very good. Second best after the Trilogy. The orchestration sounds overwhelming by times and takes away a bit from the original simple nature of the song but generally it does a good job. Andi Deris, given his vocal range, deliveres a quite intense performance. 7.5/10

You can listen to a preview of all these songs here.

The band is currently undergoing a promo tour for this album. This promo tour consists of a pocket show with autograph signings. Thanks God for youtube and some nice Helloween fans that have made some bits of this promo tour available for us all to watch. Here they are:

Will Google Buzz substitute Facebook? Will it replace Twitter as people’s favourite miniblog tool? Well, we shall see…

I think that’s pretty much what Google wants. To make it a stronger tool, they will integrate it to Gmail, Google Maps and Picasa, as well as [...]]]>

Will Google Buzz substitute Facebook? Will it replace Twitter as people’s favourite miniblog tool? Well, we shall see…

I think that’s pretty much what Google wants. To make it a stronger tool, they will integrate it to Gmail, Google Maps and Picasa, as well as launch a business version of Google Buzz later this year. So, Faceboook and Twitter, you’d better watch out!

If you’re curious to know more about Google Buzz, watch the video below:

Once upon a time there was a show about ordinary people with super powers and at the time it was one of my favourite shows on TV. There were the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys didn’t know each other, but they were all mysteriously drawn [...]]]>

Once upon a time there was a show about ordinary people with super powers and at the time it was one of my favourite shows on TV. There were the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys didn’t know each other, but they were all mysteriously drawn together, in a mutual objective that was to stop an atomic bomb from exploding in New York. There was also that funny japanese dude called Hiro, who had the most amazing super power – freezing time and time travelling. Hiro had to save the cheerleader no matter what.

Four years later, this same show has changed completely.  We still have the same original characters, but their objectives, reasons and past actions seem to be lost in the middle of a very poor and badly written plot. The so called Heroes have lost and gained back their powers several times during the storyline, sometimes they’ve gained different super powers (wtf?). They’ve also died and come back to life, as well as been lost in time (several times) and brought back to the present. Very confusing, right? On top of that, every new episode we were introduced to these new characters who were not important at all, but they wanted us to fear them because they had these so cool super powers that could be used to do bad things. Whatever…

Can Heroes be saved? It’s indeed a difficult question. I guess it still can. But they should to it very fast!

What’s the first thing they should do? Well, they have to figure out who the bad guy is. Is it Sylar? Or is it the crazy dude from Prison Break with the forced scottish accent? My vote is on Sylar! I’m tired of this Sylar is good and then he’s bad again, thing. Sylar is the bad guy, he kicks everybody’s ass when he’s bad, period! Kill the other dude. But, if you think eveybody’s is tired of Sylar, kill him and keep t-bag. The thing is, we only need one big bad guy.

The second thing is to put the coolest character as the main character again. Yes, I’m talking about Hiro. It was all about him in the first season, right? So, bring him back! Seeing Peter Petrelli with his original super power would be cool too, since he is the only one who can fight equally with Sylar, but then this would only be necessary if you decide that Sylar has to live.

The third thing is a major objective that would make the characters get together again and fight for the same thing.

That’s it. It seems pretty simple, doesn’t it?

Carey Mulligan, write down this name! I’ve just watched An Education, and I was extremely surprised by her performance. That’s one of the best performance from an actress that I’ve seen in the past few years. I Can’t even remember the last time I felt this [...]]]>

Carey Mulligan, write down this name! I’ve just watched An Education, and I was extremely surprised by her performance. That’s one of the best performance from an actress that I’ve seen in the past few years. I Can’t even remember the last time I felt this way by an actress. The film, which is the first screenplay written by Nick Hornby (another favourite of mine), is indeed very good and Carey’s performance makes it excellent. Of course she has help from a very good cast, which features among others Emma Thompson and Alfred Molina, but Carey herself makes the film very enjoyable to watch. I won’t be surprised if she wins the Oscar for best actress. It would be very deserving! Have I mentioned that she’s British and has a sexy accent? This definitely one of the many reasons why she is now one of my favourite actresses!

The film is set  in the early 1960′s,  and sixteen year old Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) lives with her parents in the London suburb of Twickenham. On her father’s wishes, everything that Jenny does is in the sole pursuit of being accepted into Oxford, as he wants her to have a better life than his. Jenny is bright, pretty, hard working but also naturally gifted. The only problems her father may perceive in her life is her issue with learning Latin, and her dating a boy named Graham, who is nice but socially awkward. Jenny’s life changes after she meets David Goldman, a man over twice her age. David goes out of his way to show Jenny and her family that his interest in her is not improper and that he wants solely to expose her to cultural activities which she enjoys. Of course David’s intentions are others and in order to know about them, I recommend you to watch the film. You won’t regret.