Once upon a time, I ran into a work colleague who had his nose stuck in a book. If there is one thing book-lovers have in common (other than the love of reading), is our cat-like curiosity about the books someone else is currently having an affair with. So I asked him what he was … Continue reading On why literary snobbery is meadow muffins
Isidora & Censorship
No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don’t have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don’t have … Continue reading Isidora & Censorship
Back to the 80s
[Disclaimer: the following post is spoiler free.] This is the age of nostalgia. I don't just say it because I'm no longer in my tweens and, like so many other thirty-somethings decades before me, think that the times and culture of my youth were a thousand times better than what they are now - that is … Continue reading Back to the 80s
The Other Martha
Woke up to a could-be-worse movie about her and Hemingway this morning - sadly, it is also the most common result when you run a search for the lady on YouTube. The great Martha Gellhorn is high on my list of Women I Want to be Like When I Grow Up. With a tremendous amount … Continue reading The Other Martha
Us & Them
It is always Us vs. Them. The Others are different so They must be feared. What was that? You don't fear Them? We'll take care of that for you. Repeat after us: Threat. Violence. Terror. Evil. Infidels. Degenerates. One more time. Repeat this everyday - it's for your own safety. And don't worry: we'll remind you. … Continue reading Us & Them
An agnostic, a pagan and an Arab Hebrew student walk into a bar…
...not really. We only had lunch. The gathering was meant to be a quiet chat about the Kabbalah, which our Arab friend is studying and of which we know too little about. In light of recent events, however, the conversation naturally moved towards religious discrimination, double standards, media manipulation (on both ends) and downright bigotry. … Continue reading An agnostic, a pagan and an Arab Hebrew student walk into a bar…
Dystopia Time
As much as I would love to, I’m not someone who finishes all the books she starts, most of the times due to my chronic impatience: “Oh dear, I’m wasting all this time reading this here when there’s a gazillion others over there I want to read as well!” (An absurd reasoning but, being a … Continue reading Dystopia Time
the Richey Edwards appreciation post
My very first memory of the Manic Street Preachers is the news of Richey’s disappearance. I was about 12 and just starting to get up to date with modern pop & rock after years of listening to nothing but oldies and my dad’s jazz records. There were the hourly updates by Carolyn Lilipaly with footage … Continue reading the Richey Edwards appreciation post
my unbelievable country
Once upon a time there was a poor country whose rulers turned to technology in order to try and fool everyone into thinking they were developed. The Ministry of Education created a new mathematical formula to place teachers in schools in fair order. It was a disaster. The Minister who implemented it - a mathematician … Continue reading my unbelievable country
TV in the Internet age
Three years ago, my TV broke down and I decided not to replace it, depending only on a computer to watch what I wanted, whenever I wanted. Alas, I have recently been afflicted by tech-hater-gobblins, and am now without a PC (borrowing a friend's as I type this). To make up for it, I went … Continue reading TV in the Internet age
The Philistine Gene
Coming from an eclectic background where religious beliefs are concerned (extended family who attend Mass without ever having read the Bible vs. Mom and Dad who found more sense & meaning in Eastern philosophies), I have always believed in some kind of higher force. To this day, I still question what that force might be … Continue reading The Philistine Gene
on vanity
Woke up this morning to an article in The Guardian about how men are now feeling what it's like to have your looks scrutinized as you grow older. We're more than used to seeing women being objectified, for the simple fact that we keep being bombarded with Photoshopped images of almost-perfect female specimens. All. The … Continue reading on vanity
Isidora & destiny
Even if our destiny is written, does that mean that we should just stop acting or do you continue doing what you think is right in the moment? Jeff Pinkner My recent binge (re)watching of Fringe has brought back one of my favourite existential questions of all time: destiny vs. free will. I was in … Continue reading Isidora & destiny
a série que me está a fazer deixar o Game of Thrones na prateleira
A fórmula não tem muito de original: Equipa all-stars composta por personagens da literatura vitoriana? Check. Sangue e sexo semi-gratuitos por todo o lado? Check. Vampiros? Check. A Eva Green a fazer de bruxa? Check, check e check. Penny Dreadful traz-nos o Dr Frankenstein e a sua criatura (ironicamente, talvez a personagem mais bela da série), o hedonista Dorian … Continue reading a série que me está a fazer deixar o Game of Thrones na prateleira
connection
Detachment Movie Poster ©Lafar88 How are you to imagine anything if the images are always provided for you? Doublethink. To deliberately believe in lies, while knowing they're false. Examples of this in everyday life: "Oh, I need to be pretty to be happy. I need surgery to be pretty. I need to be thin, famous, … Continue reading connection
Obediência
Ver filmes sobre os quais só se sabe o título tem as suas vantagens. A história começa com o início de um dia de trabalho num franchise de fast food. Conhecemos a gerente, o empregado calão, a loirinha mais interessada em mudar as capas do telemóvel do que em atender clientes, e tudo filmado em … Continue reading Obediência
os mortos vivem
Comecei ontem a devorar a série que apelidei carinhosamente de Os Retornados: Les Revenants. "Não são zombies nem fantasmas: voltam de repente, tal e qual como eram antes de morrerem. Não conseguem dormir e estão sempre com fome", conta-me a amiga Panda, que descobre sempre estas pérolas. Visualmente arrebatadora, é estupidamente bem escrita e um … Continue reading os mortos vivem
facturas
Ilustração: Hélder Oliveira A autora deste blog tem para si que a ideia do governo sortear carros e afins a quem pedir mais facturas é uma contra-medida dissimulada ao boicote que o povo fez de as pedir todas em nome dos ministros e presidente. Kirikiri.
raízes
Desde pequena que tinha a pancada de querer ter tudo registado - conversas, datas, rostos, artefactos... Pensava que bom, bom, era cada um de nós ter uma espécie de mecanismo que fosse registando tudo por escrito, qual estenógrafo interno, em forma de guião ou semelhante. Como acontece com todas as nossas ideias ultra-originais, já fizeram o … Continue reading raízes
who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?
Company of Liars by Karen Maitland My rating: 4 of 5 stars 'You won't like the ending', said the friend who lent me the book. Multiple reviews complained about the build up that led to a not-very-spectacular-revelation. But good stories aren't always about the twist. They're about the Truth. Those big, timeless, human truths. And … Continue reading who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?
it’s History, stupid
Notícia de hoje no Público, citando o senhor cardeal Gianfranco Ravasi: Jesus usou o tweet antes de todos, com as suas frases cheias de essência e que tinham menos de 45 caracteres. Claro. Porque, como toda a gente sabe, foi Jesus que escreveu os Evangelhos. E divertiu-se tanto que os escreveu 4 vezes. Porque o … Continue reading it’s History, stupid
Isidora & The Garden of Forking Paths
You think you feel divided but you know the path you need to take. Still, there are all those reasons you recite to yourself to keep toddling along the road you know won't lead you anywhere you want to go, tangled in all the ties you should allow to go loose. Then those ties … Continue reading Isidora & The Garden of Forking Paths
Isidora & Big Brother
From time to time I discover a dead master and feel a sudden urge to bring them to our present. I would take Oscar Wilde out for dinner and invite Stephen Fry. I would show heavy metal music to Beethoven. I would offer Birthday Letters to Sylvia Plath, gift-wrapped with a red bow. Being almost … Continue reading Isidora & Big Brother
What Would Olivia Dunham Do?
Prior to writing this, I thought about the heroes I’ve had in the past and, apart from Disney’s Ariel, all the action characters that have inspired courage in my backbone and made me long for adventure were, I’m sorry to say, men. Until I met Olivia Dunham. I came across Fringe almost by accident and, … Continue reading What Would Olivia Dunham Do?
Isidora & empty chairs
Praise to Liu Xiaobo and all the Chinese who risk their freedom for human rights. It's heartbreaking to hear Tiananmen Square protesters saying how, in order to protect their children, they will never be able to tell them what they did or that they lost an arm because they were beaten so badly by the … Continue reading Isidora & empty chairs
Isidora Works 