Artist # 4 -Tom Caruana

Thanks to a friend, the most refreshing piece of work in years came to my attention by a music producer called Tom Caruana. Hi skill is mostly known through his mash-ups of Rap music with other genres and artists. He has done one with Wu Tang and The Beatles. Check out an example of that mash-up below



And check out what's next with Jimmi Hendrix. Delightful!!

Wine # 9 - Paulo Laureano Premium 08

In April, I went back to the Netherlands. But before going back to Nijmegen, I spent a couple of days in Utrecht with a Portuguese friend. While there, we had a Portuguese Lunch to get together with other Portuguese working or studying in the Netherlands. For the occasion, I took this wine from Alentejo. This is a wine made by Paulo Laureano (hence the name), the same guy responsible for another wine on the list of wines in this blog: Dolium. What I loved most was the smell. But maybe it was the occasion. Here are some tasting notes in Portuguese.

Wine # 8 - Douro Conceito 09

A couple of weeks before going back to Nijmegen, I went to a place in Lisbon that procrastination had kept me from trying for a long time. The place is called Goliardos near Avenida da Liberdade, closer to Praça da Alegria. It's a wine bar with some great wines, good ambiance but no so good service (at least not very attemptive). I tried Douro Conceito 09 which is a very soft, very pleasant wine from the Douro region as the name insists on announcing. Luckily this is a wine with tasting notes in English:

Taut and intense nose with fresh citrus and grapefruit pith notes, as well as some white peach and intense toastiness. The palate is broad but well defined with nuts, toast, citrus, spice and good acidity. Really fine and burgundian with potential for development.

As I'm no expert it's hard for me to complement on these tasting notes but I can certainly vouch for the fresh citurs notes and the good acidity. It was a good first wine to a not so great first time in this place but that left me with the will to come back and give the place, and especially the service, another chance.

Movie #20 - On the waterfront

In March, we went with a couple friend of ours to spend a weekend in the country. We went to a region near Arganil. One of the nights we watched On the waterfront. It's a movie that I wanted to see for a long time and that is considered to be a masterpiece by Elia Kazan. The movie portrays an ex-prize fighter turned lonshoreman who struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses and some say that it was an act of atonement on the part of Elia Kazan for naming names to HUAC during the McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950's. Regardless of what the purpose might have been, the movie is mandatory for all movie lovers and I can name one reason alone: Marlon Brando. It is an incredible performance but so different from a character like Don Corleone in the Godfather. In this movie, Brando is a potent but innocent and kind young man. I love the conversation with his brother in the taxi when he says to his brother that he is the one to blame for him not being a champion. I love the way he says: "I could have been a contender!".

Movie #19 - Another year

In February, I saw the movie Another Year. It's a movie by Mike Leigh and it portrays the life of a happily married couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) and their relationships with their family and friends during four seasons. I've enjoyed two things about the movie. First, the performances were brilliant even though they are mostly constrained performances. An exception is Lesley Manville who plays a person who seems to be always happy but who is very depressed and a alcoholic. What a great performance. The other reason that I enjoyed the movie so much was the tranquility I got from it. Simply a good feeling that makes me smile just by remembering this movie.

Let's give it another try

A long time has passed since the last time I wrote here. The lack of motivation to write here was mostly due to the lack of visits to the blog. Finally, and after a long period of procrastination (always a factor in this lack of writing), I decided that this is first and foremost to myself and for me to remember what I’ve enjoyed during these 3 years of postdoc.
A lot to catch up and probably some things that I wanted to write here are now forgotten but regarding what I remember, I will write about it in the next few posts.