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domingo, 13 de maio de 2012

EVER TO EXCEL







St Andrews University is Scotland´s first university and the 3rd oldest in the English-speaking world.






The University is currently celebrating its 600th Anniversary.











Sir Sean Connery has returned to the screen to tell us the history of Scotland´s University. On Wednesday 16 May 2012 he will be in New York for the US premiere of "EVER TO EXCEL".

" I´m proud to be an honorary graduate of a place where good is never good enough. Ever to excel. Happy Birthday St Andrews"

Sean Connery

Watch the trailer of " EVER TO EXCEL":











sábado, 12 de maio de 2012

Queen´s Diamond Jubilee




Queen Elizabeth II is going to celebrate 60 years as sovereign.
The celebrations of the Queen´s Diamond Jubilee will take place from Saturday 2 June to Tuesday 5 June 2012.



sexta-feira, 11 de maio de 2012

Art in Canada


The “Group of Seven”

Thomson, In the Northland

The Group of Seven was created in 1920 as a movement of self-proclaimed modern artists, who started a long revolution in the conservative Canadian art. Tom THOMSON (1877–1917) had a significant influence on the group and was included in the circle of friends, but since he died in 1917 he never became a member of the Group. The “Group of Seven” chose subjects which revealed the beautiful landscapes of Canada, and that may be one of the reasons they are nationally beloved.

The Group of Seven seated around a table at the Arts and Letters Club, Toronto. From left to right:
Varley, Jackson, Harris, Barker Fairley (non-member), Johnston, Lismer, MacDonald. Carmichael was  absent.

 The original members were:

Franklin CARMICHAEL (1890–1945)

Carmichael, Waterfalls on the Way into Lake Nellie



Lawren HARRIS (1885–1970)

Harris, Shimmering Water, Agonquin Park



A.Y. JACKSON (1882–1972)
Jackson, Early Spring, Quebec

 Franz JOHNSTON (1888–1949)
  

Johnston, High Park

  Arthur LISMER (1885–1969)

Lismer, Pacific Coast


J.E.H. MACDONALD (1873–1932)

MacDonald, Autumn, Algoma

F.H. VARLEY (1881–1969)

 Varley, Stormy Weather in Georgian Bay


 Invited members:

A. J. CASSON (1898-1992) joined the Group in 1926.



 Casson, Bon Echo


Edwin HOLGATE (1892-1977) joined the Group in 1931


Holgate


L.L. FITZGERALD (1890-1956) joined the Group in 1932







Ftzgerald, Doc Snider´s House


Emily Carr (1871–1945), another famous artist, after meeting members of the Group, changed the direction of her artistic life and was strongly influenced by them.


Carr, Tree in Autumn
 
The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto holds one of Canada´s most extensive collections of fine art and modern sculpture.

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection:


References:
Murray, Joan. Northern Lights. Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Key Porter Books, 1994

quinta-feira, 10 de maio de 2012

Adventures abroad 4


NIAGARA FALLS





Niagara Falls is actually two waterfalls that are divided into twin channels: the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, named for their shape, and across the border the smaller American Falls.
Although the imposing rumble of the falls can be heard from miles away, there is nothing like the spectacular and breathtaking view of the water crashing over a 52m cliff as they produce dense clouds of bubbling spray. You can also walk down through a series of rocky tunnels that lead behind Horseshoe Falls, where the noise from the crashing waters is simply deafening.


Niagara Falls is a welcoming little town renowned as a honeymoon destination. It is in the American/Canadian border. I visited Niagara twice in autumn and winter. Although it is beautiful in both seasons, there is nothing like the view of the astonishing falls with snow (if you are that lucky). 
If you go to Niagara Falls don’t miss the charming little town of Niagara- on- the- lake where the mouth of the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario. I am fortunate to have Canadian friends who showed me the area around.


segunda-feira, 7 de maio de 2012

Exposição Fernando Pessoa - Plural como o Universo

Dedicada a Fernando Pessoa e aos seus heterónimos, esta exposição foi uma colaboração entre a Fundação Roberto Marinho e o Museu da Língua Portuguesa de São Paulo (Brasil), com o apoio da Fundação Gulbenkian.

Esteve aberta ao público de 10 de fevereiro a 6 de maio em Lisboa, na Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.






Agora, seguindo a exposição:


A primeira sala “ EU SOU MUITOS” é dedicada a Fernando Pessoa e aos seus heterónimos. “Tive sempre, desde criança, a necessidade de aumentar o mundo com personalidades fictícias, sonhos meus rigorosamente construídos, visionados com clareza fotográfica, compreendidos por dentro das suas almas".
FERNANDO PESSOA em 1935, descreveu-se como segue…

Nome Completo : Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa.

Idade e naturalidade: nasceu em Lisboa, freguesia dos Mártires, no prédio 4 do largo de S. Carlos (hoje do Diretório) em 13 de junho de 1888.

Filiação: filho legítimo de Joaquim de Seabra Pessoa e D. Maria Madalena Pinheiro Nogueira. […]

Profissão: a designação mais própria será “tradutor”, a mais exata a de “correspondente estrangeiro em casas comerciais”. O ser poeta e escritor não constitui profissão mas vocação. […]

Educação: em virtude de, falecido seu pai em 1893, sua mãe ter casado, em 1895, em segundas núpcias, com o comandante João Miguel Rosa, cônsul de Portugal em Durban […], foi ali educado.

Dizem que finjo ou minto

Tudo que escrevo. Não.

Eu simplesmente sinto

Com a imaginação.

Não uso o coração.



Tudo que sonho ou passo,

O que me falha ou finda,

É como que um terraço

Sobre outra cousa ainda.

Essa cousa é que é linda.




Por isso escrevo em meio

Do que não está ao pé,

Livre do meu enleio,

Sério do que não é.

Sentir? Sinta quem lê.



( “Isto”, 28-2-1929)



ÁLVARO DE CAMPOS nasceu em 15 de outubro de 1890, em Tavira, no Algarve, terra da família do pai de Pessoa. Segundo conta o poeta este heterónimo teve “uma educação vulgar de Liceu; depois foi mandado para a Escócia estudar engenharia, primeiro mecânica e depois naval. Numas férias fez a viagem ao Oriente, de onde resultou o “Opiário”. Agora está em Lisboa em inatividade."

Pode ser que para outro mundo eu possa levar o que sonhei

Mas poderei eu levar para outro mundo o que me esqueci de sonhar?

1928


A minha pátria é onde não estou

“Opiário”, 1914


RICARDO REIS , nascido no Porto, em 19 de setembro de 1887, estudou num colégio de jesuítas, onde aprendeu latim, e formou-se em medicina. Estudou grego por conta própria. Em carta a um amigo, Pessoa informa que Reis “vive no Brasil desde 1919, pois se expatriou espontaneamente por ser monárquico, na sequência da derrota da rebelião monárquica do Porto contra o regime republicano”

Segue o teu destino,

Rega as tuas plantas,

Ama as tuas rosas,

O resto é sombra

De árvores alheias.



A realidade

Sempre é mais ou menos

Do que nós queremos.

Só nós somos sempre

Iguais a nós próprios.



BERNARDO SOARES, na definição de Fernando Pessoa, era um “semi-heterónimo”. Comparando-se a ele, o autor afirma: “não sendo a personalidade a minha, é, não diferente da minha, mas uma simples mutilação dela. Sou eu menos o raciocínio e a afetividade.

Se imagino, vejo. Que mais faço se eu viajo?

Só a fraqueza extrema da imaginação justifica que se tenha que deslocar para sentir.



ALBERTO CAEIRO foi venerado como mestre pelos outros heterónimos e até pelo seu criador, Fernando Pessoa. Nasceu em Lisboa, em 16 de abril de 1889, mas passou a vida no campo, como “guardador de rebanhos”. O seu rebanho, esclareceu num poema, eram os seus pensamentos, e seus pensamentos eram sensações. Pouco instruído queria ver as coisas como as coisas são, sem filosofia.

Quando vier a primavera,

Se eu já estiver morto,

As flores florirão da mesma maneira

E as árvores não serão menos verdes

Que na primavera passada.

A realidade não precisa de mim.


Além dos heterónimos, Fernando Pessoa criou ao longo da vida dezenas de personalidades literárias. Entre elas:

Charles Robert Anon, poeta e prosador de língua inglesa.

Alexander Search, poeta, contista e ensaísta de língua inglesa.

Joaquim Moura Costa, poeta satírico e militante republicano.

Vicente Guedes, poeta, contista e jornalista.

António Mora, filósofo, sociólogo e teórico do neopaganismo.

Raphael Baldaya, astrólogo e filósofo.

Barão de Teive, prosador suicida.

Maria José, autora de uma carta apaixonada.

Gaudêncio Nabos, jornalista e humorista.



Na entrada para a sala seguinte o retrato mais famoso de Fernando Pessoa de Almada Negreiros (1893-1970), que faz parte da coleção da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian e um painel cronológico de Pessoa.


Podíamos ainda admirar pintura de Amadeo de Sousa- Cardoso (1887-1918) e Eduardo Viana (1881-1967) numa zona dedicada aos modernistas portugueses.
Amadeo de Sousa-Cardoso

Eduardo Viana


Motivo de grande interesse constituía a mostra de originais manuscritos, blocos de notas, o fac-simile da obra Mensagem digitalizada e ainda a própria arca onde Fernando Pessoa guardava os seus trabalhos.





Lisboa, 7 de maio de 2012


domingo, 6 de maio de 2012

Mother´s Day in Portugal


A few years ago Mother´s Day was commemorated in Portugal on December 8th, the day of the Immaculate Conception, the patron Saint of Portugal, but it changed to the first Sunday in May.



HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY 2012!








My mother and I in 1957.I was 1 month old.

sábado, 5 de maio de 2012

Fernando Pessoa: The Durban Years


In 1893, when Fernando Pessoa was five years old his father died of tuberculosis. Two years later his mother became engaged to Commander João Miguel Rosa, at that time appointed Portuguese consul in Durban, capital of the British colony of Natal in South Africa. The prospect of having to leave Portugal led to Pessoa writing his first poem dedicated to his mother. The marriage took place by proxy in Lisbon in December 1895 and next January Fernando Pessoa and his mother sailed to Durban.





Pessoa aged 7,10,13 and 17

He was sent to a convent school run by Irish nuns where he stayed for three years. In 1899 he moved on to Durban High School where he stayed till 1901, getting excellent reports and various school prizes. The headmaster, W.H. Nichols, was a classicist and humanist, who encouraged and influenced the precocious Fernando Pessoa. In 1901 he passed his Higher Certificate with distinction. The family moved to Lisbon but a year later he returned to Durban alone to prepare himself to enter the Cape University. He not only passed the exam but was also awarded the Queen Victoria Memorial Prize for the best English Essay, although English was his second language. In 1904 Fernando Pessoa passed his Intermediate exam at the Cape University. During this time he wrote numerous poems in English, some of them in the newspaper The Natal Mercury that still exists today.



It was decided that Fernando Pessoa should return to Lisbon for university education. He sailed alone in 1905. He had just turned seventeen.



In Fernando Pessoa´s work it seems he had forgotten Durban, but Durban hasn´t forgotten him: in 1985 a bust of Fernando Pessoa was inaugurated in Durban City Centre.




More recently, in 2005, his bust and a plaque with his famous saying: «Deus quer, o Homem sonha, a obra nasce»(God wills, man dreams, the work is born) written in English and Portuguese is on display in Durban High School.


Durban High School Entrance



References:

Lisboa,Eugénio, L.C. Taylor. A Centenary Pessoa. Carcanet, 1995

quarta-feira, 2 de maio de 2012

English Showcase IX


In Canada, Victoria Day is a holiday related to Queen Victoria´s birthday.




In May there is a celebration of peace and unity in Europe: Europe Day on May 9th.

terça-feira, 1 de maio de 2012

May 2012 Newsletter


© Clever Pants 2011



This month we invite you to celebrate the forthcoming London Olympics with a gruelling Pentathlon of activities! Firstly, warm up with some great feelgood quotes, then take a hop, skip and jump through some sporty idioms. Next, take the plunge in our Olympic sized quiz.

Finally... if you still have enough puff, go for gold with a hearty rendition of “We are the Champions”by Queen.



Feelgood quotes to make you smile!
"There is only one success - to spend your life in your own way."

Christopher Morley



"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."

Martha Washington



"Whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery.”

Anne Frank



"I'm so optimistic I'd go after Moby Dick in a row boat and take the tartar sauce with me."

Zig Ziglar



"The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does."

James M. BarrieC




Sporty idioms!

With the London Olympics fast approaching, how about some sporty idioms for May?



idiom (n): an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made.




Skate on thin ice

To do something risky, take a chance.

“You’re skating on thin ice my friend! If you miss one more exam you will fail the whole year!”



Be on the ball

To be able to react quickly.

“It’s really important that you’re on the ball when driving at night or in bad weather conditions.”



Be out of someone's league

Not as good as someone.

"I'd like to date Maria, but I'm afraid I'm out of her league."



The ball is in your court

It's your decision or responsibility to do something now.

“Nobody can make this decision for you. The ball is in your court so you have to make up your own mind what happens next.”



Hit below the belt

Do or say something that is very unfair or cruel.

“I know he doesn’t work very hard, but telling him that he is totally useless is a bit below the belt, isn’t it?”



Learn the ropes

Understand new things.

“The first week of a new job is usually just learning the ropes.”



Keep one's head above water

Try not to fall behind in work or other duties

“I’m so busy at the moment it’s a challenge just to keep my head above water!”




  

Song: Queen - We are the Champions!





I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face,
But I've come through

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions - of the world!

I've taken my bows
And my curtain calls.
You brought me fame and fortune and
everything that goes with it,
I thank you all!
But it's been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise.
I consider it a challenge before the
whole human race,
And I ain't gonna lose!


Match the lyrics from the song to their meanings below.


1. I’ve finished my punishment.

2. I’ve finished.

3. It hasn’t been easy. x2

4. I’ve done everything asked of me.

5. I’ve done encores.

6. I’ve survived.



Glossary:

fame and fortune - celebrity status and money.

losers - people who don’t succeed.

‘cause - informal; because.

ain’t - informal; am not/is notET


 The text was taken from:


© Clever Pants 2011