ELVIS IS ALIVE (in our oven???)

After 4 months getting an intense use we decided that it was time to get our oven cleaned...

We were really amazed when we found out that Elvis, The King of Rock 'n' Roll made a visit to our oven leaving a proof in the place!

Just take a look at the photos of the oven plate:

ALLELUIA!!!



And a closer look


ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!!!

MAURITSHUIS

Sunday...And although I'm totally fed up of this city there are some good things to do during the day!


The Mauritshuis is one of those Museums that really worth a visit.
Beside the incredibly beautiful building, a unique 17th-century palace and one of the most beautiful examples of Dutch classicist architecture, the fantastic interior and the exotic furnishings the Mauritshuis is home of some of the most beautiful and graceful executed paintings.


Some of the masterpieces in exhibition:

Girl with a Pearl Earring (Vermeer)

"Why is the Girl with the pearl earring Vermeer’s best-loved painting? It must have something to do with the fact that the girl looks over her shoulder, as though hoping to see who is standing behind her. This draws the viewer into the picture, suggesting that he is the one who has made the girl turn her head.

Equally important, though, are Vermeer’s fresh colours, virtuoso technique and subtle rendering of light effects. The turban is enlivened, for example, with the small highlights that are Vermeer’s trademark. The pearl, too, is very special, consisting of little more than two brushstrokes: a bright accent at its upper left and the soft reflection of the white collar on its underside.

Then there is the girl herself, who gazes at us, wide-eyed, her sensual mouth parted. She makes an uninhibited, somewhat expectant impression that cannot help exciting our interest, even though we have no idea who she is. "

View of Delft (Vermeer)

"Vermeer’s View of Delft is the most renowned townscape of 17th-century Dutch art. The transparency of its light, the majesty of its cloudy sky and the subtle reflections in the water all contribute to its overpowering impression.

Vermeer depicted the city from the southeast, with the Schie Canal in the foreground. Clouds drift past high above the city. A large dark cloud casts shadows on the water and the buildings in front. The roofs somewhat further away are lit by sunshine, which creates a feeling of great depth, since the light draws our eyes deep into the picture.

All motion has ceased; a sense of rest hangs over the scene. The boats are moored with lowered sails. A gentle breeze ruffles the surface of the water. Passers-by converse. The trees are in leaf, so it must be late spring or summer, and some time in the morning, because the sun is in the east."

Portrait of Jan Six (Rembrandt)

Why does this magisterial portrait command such universal and unconditional admiration? In first place, this has to do with Rembrandt’s fluid and deft facture. Jan Six stands before a dark background, his hat barely visible, but his face fully lit. The linen collar is sharply delineated and contrasts with his grey coat. The cuffs, gloves and gold braiding on the cloak are almost impressionistically rendered, Rembrandt’s thumb prints are impressed in the buttonholes. In second place, an important role is played by Six’s informal pose.

The portrait records a random moment in time. Six seems to be on the verge of taking his leave: he has thrown his cloak loosely over his shoulder, and is pulling on his gloves while calmly and attentively looking out at the viewer. The portrait makes a surprisingly modern and intimate impression

BANKSY III

3.BANKSY IN THE ISRAELI WALL

Braving threats and even warning shots from Israeli security forces, Banksy managed to make a statement through his works on the Israeli wall. Reactions were mixed to his contributions to the wall, but the coverage certainly raised global attention. This kind of work shows the development of Banksy from a local subversive to an artist with a global political agenda.

In his book "Banksy wall and Piece" he made the following statement:

Segregation Wall, Palestine

Palestine has been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967. In 2002 the Israeli government began building a wall separating the occupied territories from Israel, much of it illegal under international law. It is controlled by a series of checkpoints and observation towers, stands three times the height of the Berlin wall and will enventually run for over 700km - the distance from London to Zurich. Palestine is now the world's largest open-air prison and the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffity artists.

As usual I leave here some good examples of Banksy art. :)

Bush "Sexy" Portrait

If a leader's record proves poor, there are ways for an artist to convey his disapproval of his subject. But rarely will an artist take a portrait as an opportunity to show someone literally getting screwed.

That's what portrait artist Jonathan Yeo has done for George W. Bush. Unveiled in August at the Lazarides Gallery in London, Yeo's unofficial presidential portrait is a photomontage of images snipped from 100 pornographic magazines.

According to the gallery, "Yeo was commissioned to undertake a portrait of US President George W Bush, but was later told his services were not required. He decided to continue the commission on his own, and Tuesday’s unveiling will reveal the fruit of his labours. In a few weeks time we will be releasing a limited edition screen print of the Bush collage."
Artistically this portrait says a lot about this very controversial president. It can also just be perceived as a formal “Fuck You”.

The piece is Jonny's way of getting back at the White House and it's supporters, who commissioned him to paint the President for his library several years ago, only to drop him in the wake of the Iraq war amid mutterings that the name Yeo sounded a tad too foreign. Which is ironic given that the son of Conservative MP Tim has established himself as a sought-after portraitist who has painted leading politicians (Tony Blair, Charles Kennedy, he's working on David Cameron), film stars (Nicole Kidman is sitting for him even now) and businessmen (Rupert Murdoch has commissioned him several times). "Bush is someone who doesn't seem to react to criticism on any kind of intellectual or philosophical level so you find yourself resorting to schoolboy humour to get his attention," Yeo says. "This is not about the Iraq war or about his policies. This is just about him. It's supposed to be amusing rather than offensive, to make people smile rather than change their political views."

Apparently the picture took three times as long to produce as a painted portait. Part of the challenge was finding the right skin tones (some magazines are better than others, though I won't mention which ones). So it's not a painting, but it's definitely a portrait: at a distance, Bush's close-set, beady eyes and pursed frown are plainly visible. Up close, however, the image devolves into a collage of naked flesh, bodily emissions, and human orifices. A blowjob comprises most of Bush's right ear; where his left dimple should be is an image of a woman's face, locked in a moan of ecstasy.

The proud artist and his masterpiece.

The portait and some details for the skeptic ones ;)

And Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeen??

One of our colleagues at Zeetech is Indonesian!This could be her voice!! :)
It's so fucking stupid!AND THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN?

Wash it once in a while

I learned with my friend Loli that the All Stars were not made to be washed...
But maybe in this case even Loli would wash them...

Many thanks for the photo to our "travel friends"! (Sofia, Raquel and Ana)

BEST TRIP EVER!!!

4:00 minutes from one of my favorite movies - THE RULES OF ATTRACTION!
This is THE best trip ever... :)

For more about this movie check http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0292644/ ...and see it!

BANKSY II

2.BANKSY IN MUSEUMS

Museums, one would suppose, are a different matter. But this is where Banksy has made some spectacular strikes. His modus operandi is to modify an existing painting — whether a copy of a well-known masterpiece, or the low-grade art one might buy at a garage sale — as a “subverted artwork” and to sneak it into the collections of major museums and galleries.

In a single day, he managed by these means to “mount” his own work in no less than four major New York collections; the Louvre and the Tate Gallery have also been among his victims. Amazingly, although seen by plenty of baffled museum-goers, these installations escaped detection by the authorities for as long as two weeks.

In 2005, Banksy successfully sneaked a piece of fake rock-art into the Romano-British galleries of the British Museum. It showed a prehistoric hunter with a supermarket trolley.The painting, which remained unnoticed until Banksy posted a message on his website, accompanied a caption that stated: "This finely preserved example of primitive art dates from the Post-Catatonic era and is thought to depict early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds. The artist responsible is known to have created a substantial body of work across the southeast of England under the moniker Banksymus Maximus, but little else is known about him."

FOR MORE GO TO http://www.banksy.co.uk/

BANKSY I

Banksy is probably the most popular, yet most mysterious, urban street artist in the world - and he works at incredible extremes. He has become an internationally known as a subversive graffiti artist - yet manages to maintain a secret identity. He is a counter-cultural prankster, but has art in major cosmopolitan galleries around the globe. Banksy’s work has sold to Hollywood celebrities for over a half-million dollars a piece, but much of his art is freely (and illegally) drawn on public surfaces. He works against the mass media establishment, but has been featured in local, national, international news. I will post in the near future some examples illustrating the fascinating range of Banksy’s life and works through his most controversial and compelling projects.

1.BANKSY IN THE STREETS
Banksy is a household name in the UK, perhaps best known for his compelling stencil graffiti, found throughout major cities on walls and billboards. He avoids the abstraction of traditional tags, instead creating (often photo-realistic) urban street art images that respond to a given context and contain some form of social commentary.

Were are some examples of his art (some we actually got to see it in London).

...and one of my favorites stencil by banksy...

TO BE CONTINUED

For more go to http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/banksy.htm

Germany - An Advanced Country

It´s a fact...It's a proved cience...Women don't know how to park! (some can't even drive, but that's another deal!)

In Germany they acknowledged that they had to solve the problem in other way...

So in this parking in Köln we find out that there was a special zone reserved only for Women!No columns, larger places and close to exit!

How come nobody thought of this before? :)

Today's Special

Today's Special is Rosbife with salad cherry tomatoes and french fries! ;)

Today's special

Mom, Dad just to prove we are not starving!

Today's Special is Bacalhau à Braz (cod fish). Served with a nice salad and oven cooked bell peppers (pimentos).

Guys send us all your ideas, new recipeis!

PS-I found out this photo in the internet, our bacalhau really looked nicer!

11:11 on November 11

The Cologne carnival is a carnival that takes place in Cologne every year starting at 11:11 on November 11 culminating in a week-long street festival leading up to Ash Wednesday.

It's really wonderful to see all the dressed up and rouged people all over the town, in the busses, in the shops, in the offices, simply everywhere. A true citizen of cologne wears her fancy dress until carnival ends on Wednesday. Wednesday is called Ash Wednesday ("Aschermittwoch"). This is when everbody get's sanctified from the sins she or he committed during the carnival. :)

Anyway great weekend!As an apetiser a Trance Party in Düsseldorf...Just one more pin in the travelling map!Cool party!

The 11:11 party was really great, ending up in the most bizarre club!The advice before entering the place was "Hope you guys are really,really drunk...". Probably we were, because the night was coooooool!

Before leaving some sightseeing around Köln...Not that much to see besides the cathedral, the reason is clear in this picture!

NY GIRL OF MY DREAMS

A tale of online love inspired usually cynical New Yorkers this week to help a young man find the girl of his dreams after he spotted her on a crowded subway train.

For Web designer Patrick Moberg, 21, from Brooklyn, it was love at first sight when he locked eyes with a rosy-cheeked woman while riding in Manhattan on Sunday night. She was writing in her journal.

The train was so full that he lost her in the crowd when they both got off, so he set up a Web site dedicated to finding the mystery woman.

"I spent the whole ride psyching myself up to introduce myself, but when the time came, a rush of people got between us, and by the time I could get through, it was too late," said Moberg. "I don't think anything I could have said would have been able to sanely convey how strongly I felt about her! I'm sure I would have come across as insane. So I think I made the right choice [by making the Web site]."

Here is an image of the original web site

Anyway, Patrick is now connected with his mystery "dream girl" via e-mail, thanks to one of her friends who heard about his site.

Happy ending! More in his website:

www.nygirlofmydreams.com

Beginning

Finally....i managed to get the time, the will, the courage to start this new blog. I wanted to start it at the same time that I started this new adventure but...
I hope to have some help from my friend, colleague and house partner Costa to get this updated frequently. I will also try to write most of the things in English because I receveid a lot of complains that the last blog was in Portuguese.

LIFE IN ORANGE...Because if you think about it life is in fact an orange