Hace un rato me he encontrado en Facebook con un artículo del New York Times cuyo título me ha llamado la atención: What we can learn from old animals. Tirando del hilo he acabado viendo este vídeo:


Elderly Animals: Photographs by Isa Leshko from Mark and Angela Walley on Vimeo.

Blue, kelpie australiano, 19 años

Aquí se pueden ver más fotos del proyecto de Isa Leshko, que dice esto al respecto:

I am creating these photographs to gain a deeper understanding about what it means to be mortal and to exorcise my fears of aging. I have come to realize that these images are self-portraits, or at the very least, they are manifestations of my fears and hopes about what I will be like when I am old. My intention is to take an honest and unflinching look at old age and I want these images to inspire others to become aware of and to engage with their own attitudes toward aging and mortality.

I also want my images to inspire greater empathy toward animals, particularly farm animals. It is rare to see a farm animal that has actually lived its natural life span given that most of these animals experience brutality and death early in their lives. By depicting the beauty and dignity of these creatures in their later years, I want to challenge people’s assumptions about these animals and inspire reforms to the treatment of farm animals.

Hitchens & Feynman

Religion is our first —that's why I'm so fascinated by it—, it's our first version of the truth, is our first attempt as a species, it's what we tried when we didn't know anything. We didn't know we lived on a spherical planet, we didn't know that our planet revolved around the Sun. We didn't know that there were microorganisms that explained disease. We thought diseases came from curses, or witches, or ill-wishing, or devils, or dust devils. We didn't know anything from the childish, terrified, ignorant origins of our animal primate species.

It's also our first attempt at philosophy, our first attempt at morality, our first attempt at healthcare, actually. But, because it was our first it is our worst. We now have better explanations for all these dreads and we have cleared up all these mysteries, yet we still dwell, and in some countries, in some societies, not just dwell, but live under a totalitarian regime that forbids us to think about the progress that has been made or denies us the knowledge that these advances have in fact occured. So it has become, where once it probably was an aid to our survival, a really great peril to our continued ability to live as a civilized species [...].

Christopher Hitchens


We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on. It is our responsibility to leave the people of the future a free hand. In the impetuous youth of humanity, we can make grave errors that can stunt our growth for a long time. This we will do if we say we have the answers now, so young and ignorant as we are. If we suppress all discussion, all criticism, proclaiming “This is the answer, my friends; man is saved!” we will doom humanity for a long time to the chains of authority, confined to the limits of our present imagination. It has been done so many times before.

It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress which is the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom; to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed; and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations.

Richard Feynman, en The Value of Science (leído aquí)

That's the way that it goes

Hoy me he levantado tontorrón, como me pasa cada cierto tiempo. Si hay algún motivo externo para ello, yo aún no lo he encontrado. Pero, como tantas otras veces, sí sé cuál es el remedio y el camino para salir de este estado.

Aunque no sea precisamente la alegría de la huerta, y otras veces me haya cansado enseguida su tono relativamente monocorde (medio en broma, ella misma describe su último disco como: «diez tipos de tristeza»), hoy, mientras Lúa me sacaba de paseo en esta fría mañana mesetaria, su voz y su música me han dado el calorcito que me hacía falta:

Imagination

[0:01] It's interesting that some people find science so easy and others find it kind of dull and difficult. Specially kids. Some of them just eat it up and I don't know why it is. [F]or instance, lots of people love music, and I never could carry a tune. I lose a great deal of pleasure out of that. And I think people lose a lot of pleasure, who find science dull. In the case of science, one of the things that make it very difficult is it takes a lot of imagination. It's very hard to imagine all the crazy things that things really are like.

[4:13] I find myself trying to imagine all kinds of things all the time. And I get a kick out of it, just like a runner gets a kick out of sweating. I get a kick out of thinking about these things. I can't stop. I could talk forever.

:)

Ayer vi por fin el vídeo del homenaje a Hitchens que mencioné cuando murió, hace unos días.

Es un resumen del evento, y se nota porque le falta continuidad, pero me encantó una pequeña maldad que cuenta Richard Dawkins, otro ateo militante y furibundo: cuando Stephen Fry, maestro de ceremonias, habla sobre la cantidad de gente que se preocupaba por la salud de Hitchens y le decía: «I'll pray for you» («Rezaré por usted»), Dawkins imagina que Hitchens respondería: «Thank you. I'll think for you.» («Gracias. Yo pensaré por usted.»)

:)

Calor humano

Ain't got no wood
Ain't got no gas
Need me a baby with a big ole ass!

Need a big ole woman
For to keep me warm

It's wintertime
Ain't got no heat
Need me a baby with lots of meat!

Need a big ole woman
For to keep me warm

Grayson Capps

:-P

Cielo

Vaca profana

Respeito muito minhas lágrimas
Mas ainda mais minha risada
Inscrevo, assim, minhas palavras
Na voz de uma mulher sagrada
Vaca profana, põe teus cornos
Pra fora e acima da manada
Vaca profana, põe teus cornos
Pra fora e acima da man...
Ê, ê, ê, ê, ê,
Dona das divinas tetas
Derrama o leite bom na minha cara
E o leite mau na cara dos caretas
Segue a "movida Madrileña"
Também te mata Barcelona
Napoli, Pino, Pi, Paus, Punks
Picassos movem-se por Londres
Bahia, onipresentemente
Rio e belíssimo horizonte
Bahia, onipresentemente
Rio e belíssimo horiz...
Ê, ê, ê, ê, ê,
Vaca de divinas tetas
La leche buena toda en mi garganta
La mala leche para los "puretas"
Quero que pinte um amor Bethânia
Stevie Wonder, andaluz
Como o que tive em Tel Aviv
Perto do mar, longe da cruz
Mas em composição cubista
Meu mundo Thelonius Monk`s blues
Mas em composição cubista
Meu mundo Thelonius Monk`s...
Ê, ê, ê, ê, ê,
Vaca das divinas tetas
Teu bom só para o oco, minha falta
E o resto inunde as almas dos caretas
Sou tímido e espalhafatoso
Torre traçada por Gaudi
São Paulo é como o mundo todo
No mundo, um grande amor perdi
Caretas de Paris e New York
Sem mágoas, estamos aí
Caretas de Paris e New York
Sem mágoas estamos a...
Ê, ê, ê, ê, ê,
Dona das divinas tetas
Quero teu leite todo em minha alma
Nada de leite mau para os caretas
Mas eu também sei ser careta
De perto, ninguém é normal
Às vezes, segue em linha reta
A vida, que é "meu bem, meu mal"
No mais, as "ramblas" do planeta
"Orchata de chufa, si us plau"
No mais, as "ramblas" do planeta
"Orchata de chufa, si us...
Ê, ê, ê, ê, ê,
Deusa de assombrosas tetas
Gotas de leite bom na minha cara
Chuva do mesmo bom sobre os caretas...

Caetano Veloso

Just Us Kids

No sé bien por qué, pero esta canción me engancha como pocas. Creo que en parte es porque en apenas cinco minutos consigue recorrer toda una vida. El caso es que cada cierto tiempo necesito volver a escucharla, como ahora (que suena por segunda vez consecutiva, y no puedo prometer que sea la última...):



I've had enough of this small town bullshit
I'm not stayin' in school
I'm makin' good dough workin' with my brother
Cleanin' out pools
I'm going out to California
And man it won't be long
As soon as I get my license
Color me gone

Oh knock it off Johnny
Man, your livin' in your head
You ain't even got a car
And those chicks don't believe a word ya said
But you're doin' all the talkin'
So I just keep quiet
And this'll probably go no where
But I can't blame ya for tryin'

It's just us kids hangin' round the park at night
Hangin' round 'neath the vapor light
We got no drugs and we got no guns
Not even botherin' anyone

I don't have to wear a necktie
I don't have to punch a clock
I started up a dot com company
And man it rocks
Won't you come with me down to Mexico
In the winter with some friends?
My divorce will be final
Along about then
Meanwhile I got a gram and a real good ride
And don't you know I hurt way down inside?

Just us kids in the parking lot
Out here givin' it all we got
We don't want to get old and die
And there ain't nothing we wouldn't try

Ya know we could really have it all
Our kid's gonna graduate next fall
I could take retirement in 10 years
It's a damn short movie
How'd we ever get here?

Just us kids hangin' out today
Watchin' our long hair turnin' gray
Not so skinny maybe not so free
Not so many as we used to be

James McMurtry

"No matter how successful he may be, Louis C. K. can always be a loser in his own mind."

El mensaje va calando, aquí y allá.

:)

En algún momento se me pasará el furor y dejaré de insistir, pero acabo de leer el anuncio de Louis sobre su experiencia con el vídeo del que hablé el otro día, del que ha vendido un montón de copias, y me he alegrado, emocionado (soy así de ñoño, yes) y partido el culo. Por si acaso cambia el texto, como creo que ya ha hecho alguna vez, lo copio aquí:


People of Earth (minus the ones who don't give a shit about this): it's been amazing to conduct this experiment with you. The experiment was: if I put out a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?

It's been 4 days. A lot of people are asking me how it's going. I've been hesitant to share the actual figures, because there's power in exclusive ownership of information. What I didn't expect when I started this was that people would not only take part in this experiment, they would be invested in it and it would be important to them. It's been amazing to see people in large numbers advocating this idea. So I think it's only fair that you get to know the results. Also, it's just really cool and fun and I'm dying to tell everybody. I told my Mom, I told three friends, and that wasn't nearly enough. So here it is.

First of all, this was a premium video production, shot with six cameras over two performances at the Beacon Theater, which is a high-priced elite Manhattan venue. I directed this video myself and the production of the video cost around $170,000. (This was largely paid for by the tickets bought by the audiences at both shows). The material in the video was developed over months on the road and has never been seen on my show (LOUIE) or on any other special. The risks were thus: every new generation of material I create is my income, it's like a farmer's annual crop. The time and effort on my part was far more than if I'd done it with a big company. If I'd done it with a big company, I would have a guarantee of a sizable fee, as opposed to this way, where I'm actually investing my own money.

The development of the website, which needed to be a very robust, reliable and carefully constructed website, was around $32,000. We worked for a number of weeks poring over the site to make sure every detail would give buyers a simple, optimal and humane experience for buying the video. I edited the video around the clock for the weeks between the show and the launch.

The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we've sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again.

I really hope people keep buying it a lot, so I can have shitloads of money, but at this point I think we can safely say that the experiment really worked. If anybody stole it, it wasn't many of you. Pretty much everybody bought it. And so now we all get to know that about people and stuff. I'm really glad I put this out here this way and I'll certainly do it again. If the trend continues with sales on this video, my goal is that i can reach the point where when I sell anything, be it videos, CDs or tickets to my tours, I'll do it here and I'll continue to follow the model of keeping my price as far down as possible, not overmarketing to you, keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.

(Of course i reserve the right to go back on all of this and sign a massive deal with a company that pays me fat coin and charges you straight up the ass.). (This is you: yes Louie. And we'll all enjoy torrenting that content. You fat sweaty dolt).

I probably sound kind of crazy right now. It's been a really fun and intense few days. This video was paid for by people who bought tickets, and then bought by people who wanted to see that same show. I got to do exactly the show I wanted, and exactly the show you wanted.

I also got an education. And everything i learned are things i was happy to learn.
I learned that people are interested in what happens and shit (i didn't go to college)

I learned that money can be a lot of things. It can be something that is hoarded, fought over, protected, stolen and withheld. Or it can be like an energy, fueled by the desire, will, creative interest, need to laugh, of large groups of people. And it can be shuffled and pushed around and pooled together to fuel a common interest, jokes about garbage, penises and parenthood.

I want to thank Blair Breard who produced this video and produces my series LOUIE, and I want to thank Caspar and Giles at Version Industries, who created the website.

I hope with all of my heart that I stay funny. Otherwise this all goes to hell. Please have a safe and happy holiday, and thank you again for all this crazy shit.

Sincerely,
Louis C.K.

Si alguien ha llegado hasta aquí y tiene ganas de más, yo acabo de pasar un buen rato leyendo este chat de Louis en Reddit sobre su experiencia con el vídeo y un montón de cosas más.

Hace unos días estuvo de gira por España, pero no vino a Barcelona. Una pena, porque ahora mismo disfrutaría como pocas cosas un concierto de Nick Lowe. Me imagino algo íntimo, él solo con su guitarra, como en este conciertillo para la NPR:



Aquí se puede escuchar su disco de hace unos meses, The Old Magic (también en Spotify), que contiene varias perlas de las suyas:




The Old Magic by Nick Lowe

What a wonderful world

:)

(A través de Brain Pickings)

Hoy ha muerto Christopher Hitchens, uno de los críticos más feroces y vociferantes de las religiones en las últimas décadas.

Por lo que sé, Salman Rushdie era amigo suyo (aparece junto con Stephen Fry, Martin Amis o Richard Dawkins, entre otros, en este debate [que aún no he visto] al que Hitchens, ya gravemente enfermo, no pudo acudir el mes pasado y que acabó convirtiéndose en un homenaje a su figura). Al conocer la muerte de Hitchens, me ha venido a la kabeza este texto de Rushdie contra las religiones que puse aquí hace ya mucho tiempo, dirigido al habitante seis mil millones del planeta*: «Imagina que el cielo no existe» ("...y de inmediato verás el cielo abierto").

Voilà un par de extractos:

"A medida que los conocimientos humanos han ido aumentando, también se ha vuelto evidente que todas las historias religiosas sobre cómo hemos llegado aquí son, sencillamente, falsas. Eso es, finalmente, lo que todas las religiones tienen en común. No lo entendieron bien. No hubo ni revolvimiento celestial, ni danza del Creador, ni vómito de galaxias, ni antepasados serpientes o canguros, ni Valhalla, ni Olimpo, ni seis días de creación seguidos de uno de descanso. Falso, falso, falso.

"Sin embargo, hay un punto que resulta de lo más extraño. La falsedad de los relatos sagrados no ha disminuido en lo más mínimo el fervor de los devotos. Más bien, la sandez total y desfasada de la religión lleva a sus adeptos a insistir con mayor estridencia aún en la importancia de la fe ciega."

[...]

"Las sabidurías antiguas son las tonterías modernas. Vive en tu propio tiempo, usa lo que sabemos y, cuando crezcas, puede que por fin la especie humana crezca contigo y deje de lado las cosas infantiles. Como dice la canción, it's easy if you try («es fácil si lo intentas»). En cuanto a moralidad, la segunda gran pregunta (¿cómo vivir?, ¿qué está bien y qué está mal?) se reduce a tu disposición a pensar por ti mismo. Sólo tú puedes decidir si quieres que los sacerdotes te dicten las leyes, y aceptar que el bien y el mal son algo externo a nosotros mismos. A mi entender, la religión, incluso en su forma más sofisticada, infantiliza esencialmente nuestro yo ético al establecer unos árbitros morales infalibles y unos tentadores inmorales irredimibles por encima de nosotros; los padres eternos, buenos y malos, brillantes y oscuros, del reino sobrenatural."


:)

* Leo aquí que este texto aparece precisamente en un libro editado por Hitchens titulado The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer.

Homo narrans

Ayer, C (aka X) y yo estuvimos escuchando en directo a Muñoz Molina, uno de esos pequeños lujos que vivir en una ciudad ofrece a un mitómano empedernido como yo.

(Rosa Badia y Antonio Muñoz Molina en la Biblioteca Jaume Fuster. 

Fotografía de Seix Barral en Facebook.)

Debería haber tomado notas (no digo tuiteado, C, que ya te veo venir... ;), para escribir aquí un recuento con algo más de chicha, porque ahora todo lo que tengo son ideas vagas de lo que MM ayer expresó con mucha más precisión y elocuencia (¡cómo me gusta esta palabra!).

De todo lo que dijo, me quedé con esto: «Necesitamos contarnos historias para comprender el mundo.»

Es una idea a la que le doy vueltas recurrentemente desde hace mucho tiempo, de la que he hablado aquí varias veces, y que en las últimas semanas me ha aparecido por distintos sitios.

Por ejemplo, en la charla a la que asistí hace unas semanas sobre «ceguera al cambio», donde un neurocientífico nos explicaba cómo nuestro cerebro trabaja continuamente para darle sentido a un mundo que no lo tiene de por sí, y a menudo nos la juega y nos engaña para superponer un cierto orden sobre el caos, para contarnos una historia a nosotros mismos, sin la cual somos incapaces de vivir.

O también en este artículo de hace unos días que por fin he leído hoy, de Henning Mankell, escritor sueco que lleva muchos años viviendo a medias entre su país y Mozambique, que habla sobre cómo en África aún pervive el arte de escuchar las historias de los demás y contiene estas líneas memorables:

Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water in a brotherly or sisterly fashion. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous.

I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, “I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and we decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead.”

The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he’d heard. I had an instinctive feeling that it would prove to be important.

Finally he, too, spoke.

“That’s not a good way to die — before you’ve told the end of your story.”

It struck me as I listened to those two men that a truer nomination for our species than Homo sapiens might be Homo narrans, the storytelling person. What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats — and they in turn can listen to ours.

Louis CK

Ya sabéis cuánto me mola Louis CK. Y también he hablado alguna vez aquí de Fresh Air, un fantástico programa de entrevistas de la NPR. Aunque aún no lo he escuchado, he visto que ayer Terry Gross, la presentadora, habló con Louis a propósito, entre otras cosas, de su nuevo vídeo (special, lo llaman ellos), que acaba de poner a la venta directamente en su web, sin intermediarios.



Me gusta mucho que la gente se atreva a hacer estas cosas, y además Louis me cae de puta madre, así que yo me acabo de gastar los cinco dólares que cuesta y lo estoy bajando (sin DRM ni otras restricciones, por cierto).


También me ha encantado el mensaje de Louis para quienes se plantean compartirlo en las redes p2p o similares:

To those who might wish to "torrent" this video: look, I don't really get the whole "torrent" thing. I don't know enough about it to judge either way. But I'd just like you to consider this: I made this video extremely easy to use against well-informed advice. I was told that it would be easier to torrent the way I made it, but I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to be easy for people to watch and enjoy this video in any way they want without "corporate" restrictions.

Please bear in mind that I am not a company or a corporation. I'm just some guy. I paid for the production and posting of this video with my own money. I would like to be able to post more material to the fans in this way, which makes it cheaper for the buyer and more pleasant for me. So, please help me keep this being a good idea. I can't stop you from torrenting; all I can do is politely ask you to pay your five little dollars, enjoy the video, and let other people find it in the same way.

Sincerely,
 
Louis C.K.

Y la forma de preguntar si quería seguir recibiendo información de su web :)

I'm going to be offering other things through this site. Would you like to hear about them?

Yes, I'd like to receive further emails about Louis C.K. things.

No, leave me alone forever, you fat idiot.

Nido vacío

En tres semanas, es casi la primera noche que paso solo en casa y sin esperar una nueva visita. Es curioso: con lo mucho que valoro mis ratos de soledad, ahora que puedo disfrutar plenamente de ella lo que más siento es el nido vacío.

:)

I'm a modern man

No sé si ya he puesto aquí este vídeo de George Carlin, pero acabo de encontrar la letra así que ahí va :)



I’m a modern man,
A man for the millennium,
Digital and smoke free.
A diversified multicultural postmodern deconstructionist,
Politically anatomically and ecologically incorrect.
I’ve been uplinked and downloaded.
I’ve been inputted and outsourced.
I know the upside of downsizing.
I know the downside of upgrading.
I’m a high tech lowlife.
A cutting edge state-of-the-art bicoastal multitasker,
And I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond.
I’m new wave but I’m old school,
And my inner child is outward bound.
I’m a hot wired heat seeking warm hearted cool customer,
Voice activated and biodegradable.
I interface from a database,
And my database is in cyberspace,
So I’m interactive,
I’m hyperactive,
And from time-to-time,
I’m radioactive.
Behind the eight ball,
Ahead of the curve,
Riding the wave,
Dodging a bullet,
Pushing the envelope.
I’m on point,
On task,
On message,
And off drugs.
I got no need for coke and speed,
I got no urge to binge and purge.
I’m in the moment,
On the edge,
Over the top,
But under the radar.
A high concept,
Low profile,
Medium range ballistic missionary.
A street-wise smart bomb.
A top gun bottom feeder.
I wear power ties,
I tell power lies,
I take power naps,
I run victory laps.
I’m a totally ongoing bigfoot slam dunk rainmaker with a proactive outreach.
A raging workaholic.
A working ragaholic.
Out of rehab,
And in denial.
I got a personal trainer,
A personal shopper,
A personal assistant,
And a personal agenda.
You can’t shut me up,
You can’t dumb me down.
‘Cause I’m tireless,
And I’m wireless.
I’m an alpha male on beta blockers.
I’m a non-believer and an over-achiever.
Laid back but fashion forward.
Up front,
Down home,
Low rent,
High maintenance.
Super size,
Long lasting,
High definition,
Fast acting,
Oven ready,
And built to last.
I’m a hands on,
Foot loose,
Knee jerk,
Head case.
Prematurely post traumatic,
And I have a love child who sends me hate mail.
But I’m feeling,
I’m caring,
I’m healing,
I’m sharing.
A supportive bonding nurturing primary care giver.
My output is down,
But my income is up.
I take a short position on the long bond,
And my revenue stream has its own cash flow.
I read junk mail,
I eat junk food,
I buy junk bonds,
I watch trash sports.
I’m gender specific,
Capital intensive,
User friendly,
And lactose intolerant.
I like rough sex.
I like rough sex.
I like tough love.
I use the f word in my email,
And the software on my hard drive is hard core, no soft porn.
I bought a microwave at a mini mall.
I bought a mini van in a mega store.
I eat fast food in the slow lane.
I’m toll free,
Bite sized,
Ready to wear,
And I come in all sizes.
A fully equipped,
Factory authorized,
Hospital tested,
Clinically proven,
Scientifically formulated medical miracle.
I’ve been pre-washed,
Pre-cooked,
Pre-heated,
Pre-screened,
Pre-approved,
Pre-packaged,
Post-dated,
Freeze-dried,
Double-wrapped,
Vacuum-packed,
And I have an unlimited broadband capacity.
I’m a rude dude,
But I’m the real deal.
Lean and mean.
Cocked, locked and ready to rock.
Rough tough and hard to bluff.
I take it slow.
I go with the flow.
I ride with the tide.
I got glide in my stride.
Drivin’ and movin’,
Sailin’ and spinnin’,
Jivin’ and groovin’,
Wailin’ and winnin’.
I don’t snooze,
So I don’t lose.
I keep the pedal to the metal,
And the rubber on the road.
I party hearty,
And lunch time is crunch time.
I’m hanging in,
There ain’t no doubt.
And I’m hanging tough,
Over and out.

George Carlin

Silogismo

A las vacas les gusta el jazz
A mí me gusta el jazz
Por lo tanto...

:-P

(Vía Open Culture)

Afinando

Llevaba unos días tontorrón, retraído, callado. Hay varios motivos, como ya he dicho, pero lo importante es que he (re)descubierto la manera de salir de ahí: escuchar música brasileña (aunque la siesta de media mañana que me acaba de poner el cuerpo a tono también ayuda, sin duda... :-P).

Ahora mismo escucho a Chico Buarque, una de cuyas canciones tiene literalmente sobre mí efectos balsámicos (aquí en Spotify):



Estava à toa na vida
O meu amor me chamou
Pra ver a banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor...

Para luego me dejo uno de esos discos que me acompañan desde hace no sé cuántos años, que forman parte de mi vida. Sé que abuso de los superlativos para describir la música que gusta, pero para hablar de este disco (que recuerdo haber escuchado en bucle, saliendo de la cama solo para darle la vuelta al vinilo...) lo único que puedo decir es esto: una joya de inicio a fin. Y de vuelta al inicio.

Coleman Hawkins – Desafinado

"When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again."

Steve Jobs

(Vía Brain Pickings)

Aviso a mis lectoras

Este súbito radio silence tiene varios motivos: uno, he estado medio malo y el cuerpo no me pedía escribir; dos, de repente entiendo lo que queríais decir cuando, viendo el tiempo que le dedicaba al blog, me decíais: "Qué poquito curro tienes, cabrón"; y tres, but not least, una parte importante de las comunicaciones para las que hasta hace poco me servía de este medio han pasado a otros... ;)

:)

Hoy sale a la venta el nuevo disco de Bénabar, Les bénéfices du doute (Los beneficios de la duda). Mejor dicho, hoy sale a la venta en Francia.



Soy de los flipados que estarían dispuestos a pagar para poder descargarme y escuchar "legalmente" desde ya lo último de este fenómeno, pero no hay manera, ni desde iTunes (solo está disponible en la versión francesa de la tienda de Apple), ni desde Amazon (ídem), así que me quedo con las ganas... o me doy al pirateo (tampoco aparece aún ya está en Spotify).

Otra opción, que no descarto, es comprar el cd físico en Amazon.fr o Fnac.com, que tardaría unos días en llegarme. Pero eso es taaaaaan 2005... :-P

Aprovecho y vuelvo a meter una de mis canciones favoritas de Bénabar, Les mots d'amour (Las palabras de amor), que ya puse aquí hace seis años (¡!) y cuya letra traté de traducir entonces, con resultados bastante lamentables...



Dicho lo cual, me permito igualmente poner de nuevo aquí unas líneas para que os hagáis una idea de por dónde van los tiros :)

Les mots d’amour c’est pas ça
C’est bien plus compliqué crois-moi
Les déclarations les plus belles
Ne figurent pas dans les manuels
C’est banal mais les quelques mots que je te destine
Je les préfère aimantés sur le frigo dans la cuisine
Je veux voir nos initiales côte-à-côte sur l’interphone
Pas gravées au canif dans l’écorce d’un chêne

[Eso no son las palabras de amor
La cosa es bastante más complicada, créeme
Las declaraciones más bellas
no se encuentran en los manuales
Es una bobada, pero las palabras que te escribo
Prefiero que estén pegadas con un imán sobre la nevera en la cocina
Quiero ver nuestras iniciales juntas en el telefonillo
no grabadas con navaja en la corteza de un roble]

El tiempo que (nos) queda

(Este comenario de n me permite subsanar una omisión imperdonable :)



Combien de temps...
Combien de temps encore
Des années, des jours, des heures, combien ?
Quand j'y pense, mon coeur bat si fort...
Mon pays c'est la vie.
Combien de temps...
Combien ?

Je l'aime tant, le temps qui reste...
Je veux rire, courir, pleurer, parler,
Et voir, et croire
Et boire, danser,
Crier, manger, nager, bondir, désobéir
J'ai pas fini, j'ai pas fini
Voler, chanter, parti, repartir
Souffrir, aimer
Je l'aime tant le temps qui reste

Je ne sais plus où je suis né, ni quand
Je sais qu'il n'y a pas longtemps...
Et que mon pays c'est la vie
Je sais aussi que mon père disait :
Le temps c'est comme ton pain...
Gardes-en pour demain...

J'ai encore du pain
Encore du temps, mais combien ?
Je veux jouer encore...
Je veux rire des montagnes de rires,
Je veux pleurer des torrents de larmes,
Je veux boire des bateaux entiers de vin
De Bordeaux et d'Italie
Et danser, crier, voler, nager dans tous les océans
J'ai pas fini, j'ai pas fini
Je veux chanter
Je veux parler jusqu'à la fin de ma voix...
Je l'aime tant le temps qui reste...

Combien de temps...
Combien de temps encore ?
Des années, des jours, des heures, combien ?
Je veux des histoires, des voyages...
J'ai tant de gens à voir, tant d'images..
Des enfants, des femmes, des grands hommes,
Des petits hommes, des marrants, des tristes,
Des très intelligents et des cons,
C'est drôle, les cons ça repose,
C'est comme le feuillage au milieu des roses...

Combien de temps...
Combien de temps encore ?
Des années, des jours, des heures, combien ?
Je m'en fous mon amour...
Quand l'orchestre s'arrêtera, je danserai encore...
Quand les avions ne voleront plus, je volerai tout seul...
Quand le temps s'arrêtera..
Je t'aimerai encore
Je ne sais pas où, je ne sais pas comment...
Mais je t'aimerai encore...
D'accord ?

Serge Reggiani

Vente, morena,
Vente pa' mi continente

:)

La la la...

Hasta el gruñón de Van sonríe hoy :)

Everything is (Falling Into Place)

Todo es muy precario y está sujeto a mis altibajos anímicos y a novedades casi diarias que pueden cambiar el panorama completamente de un momento al siguiente, pero la sensación de fondo que se va imponiendo es esta:



I know it sounds wrong / And I don't have the face
But lately everything / Is falling into place
I know it sounds dumb / But it ain't no disgrace
It just feels so damn good / To be out of the race
I know it sounds strange / To really feel free
But how can you complain
If it's the way it's meant to be
You know I got a pop heart / What else can I say?
I love a simple tune / That anyone can play
See this little girl / She's 7 years old (4 in the photo)
You listen to her sing / And you listen to her soul
So what is the need / For all (of) us as a race
So why, oh! all the greed / If it's gone in a day
And everything's falling into place...

Kevin Johansen

Y entonces veo el austero y potente nuevo vídeo de Tom Waits y me reconozco en él, me veo perfectamente bailando como Tom, como el bicho que soy, que somos, sintiendo la música y, más que cantando, aullando como hace el señor Waits:

Now Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards
I will scratch where I’ve been itching
Now Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards
I will scratch where I’ve been itching

Me he levantado con los ojos a punto de rebosar. No es tristeza lo que siento, ni mucho menos, es una emoción de estar vivo que me cuesta mucho explicar (supongo que suena muy cursi, pero no encuentro otra expresión).

Basta un detalle de belleza para que las lágrimas empiecen a rodar. Esta vez, el detonante han sido las maravillosas fotos que mi querido n. está publicando de su viaje a África en verano, como esta:

Me gustaría escribir algo aquí que expresase lo que siento, pero ni siquiera tengo claro qué es, hay demasiado ruido y demasiadas cosas mezcladas. Así que, sin que sirva de precedente, mejor me callo... por un rato :)

Tengo que escribir sobre ayer, pero aún no sé qué decir, así que de momento dejo esto aquí :)

No voy a ser yo

El que se quede sin dar el paso, no voy a ser yo
Quien se canse de tus abrazos, no voy a ser yo
No voy a ser yo, no voy a ser yo

Tengo tiempo y tengo paciencia, y sobre todo
Te quiero dentro de mi existencia de cualquier modo,
Y aunque falte tal vez bastante, no voy a ser yo
El que se canse antes, no voy a ser yo

Hay gente que no debería enamorarse
Algunos no deberíamos dar el sí
Yo no veo otra salida, no quiero pasar la vida
Sin que la vida pase a través de mí...

Aunque me pierda completamente, no voy a ser yo
Quien se esconda de lo que siente, no voy a ser yo
No voy a pisar el freno, no voy a ser yo
El que se ande con más o menos, no voy a ser yo

Hay gente que no debería involucrarse
Con cosas que luego no pueden manejar
Yo no veo otra salida, no quiero pasar la vida,
Pisando una piedra y volviéndola a pisar...

Si querés un príncipe azulado, no voy a ser yo,
Si querés un 'bangundangunladu'*, no voy a ser yo

*en dialecto yamaní: caradura.

Jorge Drexler y Kevin Johansen

En Youtube he encontrado también el vídeo en que Drexler y Johansen la cantan en directo en el Conde Duque, en Madrid, en 2006. Antes de empezar, Kevin explica cómo tenía la idea de una canción en plan tío orgulloso ("si te vas a enamorar de un loser, no voy a ser yo; si te vas a enamorar de un hippie, no voy a ser yo"...) pero le pidió ayuda a Drexler, que le dio la vuelta por completo y la convirtió en una canción de "entrega absoluta".

De pronto, al escuchar eso (que ya escuché entonces en directo :), he pensado que a Drexler, fan confeso de Leonard, quizá se le ocurrió esa inversión al pensar en la mejor canción de amor de la historia (¡hala!), que dice precisamente lo contrario: "Soy yo" :)