tantas Saudades...

The Saudades Official Anthem

2013-12-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

***+++***

1992's Amy Grant opus, "I Will Remember You"

***+++***

Saudades
da vida antiguamente
de tantas coisas perdidas
do tempo passado
do tempo perdido
do temo que nunca volta mais

Sim, tenho saudades
de tanta coisa.

Saudades de ti.

***+++***

~ Nostalgia ~

2013-06-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

Times Past Will Never Return -
Memories Will Sustain Us, For A Time...
And Then...
We Will Find Solace In The Present Again ~
God Willing!

Les Regrets - A. Souchon

1969-1999

2012-01-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

Eu sou uma criança da minha epoca - I am a child of my times and, like millions upon millions of you out there, that means that I was born with television. Those broadcast sights and sounds shaped my thinking, os meus sonhos, mon imaginaire.

Much like the show Dream On so brilliantly recreated on any given one of its 120 episodes - my experience and that of millions of others that are a part of this "generation of television" viewers is one of mish-mashing all those images and influences, blending them all into a view of the world that -at least attempted to- make sense of it...!

And the mere task of making sense of any of it is not an easy one for the toddler, the five year-old, the ten year-old, the rebellious teenager, the young optimistic twentysomething...!

Television has been there throughout all of these phases of our lives - and, somehow, it has been for the best. For television is, despite its bad influences through publicity spots that outright lie to you, saturation of violent images, sexually-degrading images too, racist, sexist, socially unacceptable sights and sounds... television still is, for all these sins and more, a valuable teacher, informer and one might even say "friend". It introduces the viewer to the complexities of life (most of which are totally unnecessary for they are man-made to begin with - and they are unnecessary to the human condition exactly because they are man-made too!) that is, modern life of course... It keeps the viewer abreast of any last-minute changes to these complexities, meant only to further alienate or simply frustrate an entire class of denizens out there - but that is another story... And lastly but not least of all, television often added or adds that essential liveliness tot he home: for a home where the television is on is a home where there is "life" - or noise, at the very least. Throughout our very crucial -for they will shape what we are and what we are to be in society- first, roughly-speaking, thirty-or-so years of life, the television will always be ON: for we need it so bad in order to understand and connect with events in our immediate environment; heck, in our city, country, planet...!

Things are still as confusing as ever though, later in life - and, once again, Dream On (we'll keep coming back to that show - for now) acted as some sort of guidance in the early 1990s - the extremely materialistic, fade and bleak 1990s (they were, you must admit, far worse than the 1980s on several key points - but that is another story too.)

Here is at least one sample of that "guidance" - a lesson on how to deal with many of life's pitfalls and other disillusions that come about when one is too aloof to notice things - all the while the lessons learned through the formative years (as well as all the related growing pains and such) are remembered, duly registered and keep coming to the fore, sending little warning signals that we choose to ignore as we are too involved with the 'present' - and then, it is too late.

Here is that little sample - for as long as it can remain available on YouTube before a copyright claim is filed by somebody - a sample episode of Dream On...

Episode 9 of the second season, to be exact, titled "To Have, And Have, And Have, And Have Not" dated September 1st, 1991.

In the end, to have not is perhaps the best thing that could have happened - and so, once again, television somehow carries forth the best possible message to its audience. Despite it being the source of so much negativism, as we've seen before, television almost always drives across "the right message" or the convenient idea through its myriad happy endings, moralistic tales and other assorted lessons dispensers...

My televisions, over the years, have been all of the above - and more.

A living room, or salon, or boudoir, or salle de séjour, or salão (or bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, for that matter!) without a telly was simply missing something, something vital, back in those days...!

The television sets that we have had over the years have met different fates, really: two of the best ones, 36 inch screens and nearly immovable objects being stylish pieces of furniture all on their own, have been the ones who had to be taken away for good, ironically. Another was put out of its misery - but it was simply a 24 inch portable TV thingy - no biggie. Three assorted sets remain - less and less used as time goes by. That is because, as Video allegedly Killed The Radio Star - meaning television took the place of the previous medium that was deemed to be so indispensable to every single home in America (!) - well, truth is now, the computer has killed the television where it once stood, smack dab at the core and center stage of each and every home indeed.

In its latter stages of evolution, television was trying to be more interactive - getting the viewer much more involved than before, when the heights of interaction between the set and its owner was the flickering of channels. That as much as any other indicator signaled the end of an era and the end for the TV as well - because there is nothing more interactive than your laptop! Or desktop, sure...

The television will always remain a fond memory of those years gone by, though - the first thirty years of assimilating, processing and storing up in one's data banks all that would prove to be so useful in any given moment throughout our lives, later on...

Thanks, television!
Overall, you truly have been a friend.
Somehow...

+++

1980s - Bündock

2011-12-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

If I am one of the few who remembers (and sympathizes with the plight, struggles, underachieving of) artists and bands such as Les Parfaits Salauds - there are other sensible souls out there that do just like me.

Case in point: Jiehnav, the author of the YouTube playlist that follows, who collected all the high points (the few highlights really) of the career of this obscure band from mixed origins that both Jiehnav and I understand so well - for we are, too, of mixed origins, a dualism that has no end...

Below you will discover an artist who had so much potential when, circa 1987, they released an unique sounding single titled American Singer. Ironically, American Singer sounded quite slavic-inspired as it was more akin to the music style of the few Russian rockers that existed then (hey, this was a time when the Cold War was still effective!) but this Bündock kid looked like he wanted nothing less than to become the new Mick Jagger.

And he had the raw makings of it too!

But is was not to be.

Follow-up single releases were well-received: Tied For Time was a hit as well. But then, pressed by their Quebec peers, the band decided to sing in French. Le Corbeau was a hit, but it was obviously limited in it marketability. And when the video for that Fa La La La holiday tune was made, even though Bündock has the clear backing of many of the local artists (many cameos in the video of virtually everyone that was deemed to be "big" back in 1988 - something Les Parfaits Salauds, pourtant Québécois Pure Laine, never had...) it was clear that the end was near for Bündock...

For the old adage is true: whenever they are caught releasing Christmas songs (or, Heaven Forbid, entire albums of the sort) Québec rockers are in the twilight of their careers...

Bündock, ironically, is attempting a comeback now, with just that: a Christmas album.

Yikes.

Have a look at Bündock now: present but mostly past:

Bündock, somehow, aged much more, shall we say normally than Mick Jagger did.

Maybe it's the Québec winters?

He looks like one of my older cousins now!

The chorus of Tied For Time will always evoke times gone by for me, though: the careless, worry-free, all around blissful days of the late eighties...
Days that shall never return - but that are immortalized in songs like that particular one right there.

Thanks for that, Bündock

+++

1969-1986

2011-10-12T03:48:00.000-07:00

The feeling of saudades of a loved one is as one's own nostalgia - and so it is meant to be when two have become one.

It is in this perspective that we present the following here, this time:

Children's fare that harken of another time, another place - and of days gone by...

Uploaded by akaidude on Dec 10, 2007

Nu, pogodi! ("I'll Get You!") is a series of Russian animated shorts directed by Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin, produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow, between 1969 and 1986. The plot of the series follows the mischievous and artistic Wolf (Volk) trying to catch the Hare (Zayats), presumably with the intention to eat him.

Aside from Zayats and Volk, these cartoons featured such unforgettable characters as Cherubashka, its best friend Kosyak (Gena?) the Crocodile (who plays the accordion) and then there was also that Hippopotamus that overworked Volk, unwittingly foiling the latter's devious plans... The Russian Raccoon and the Monkey... The old lady and her doggie... Assorted eccentrics... And many more!

These animated shorts are little gems of creativity and artistic talent given free reign even though this was a period of time when there were obvious restrictions. They transcend any political climate there could have been and reach out to everyone through their sheer humanity and purity. As there was no competition to speak of, truly, these cartoons made the rounds throughout all of the socialistic regimes of the world - including Eastern Europe. Every kid who was denied American fare had access to these; and, quite frankly, they were all the better off for it!

Truly a mirror image of what was being done over at the States - these cartoons truly rival the Merrie Melodies from Warner Bros. in every way - and then some! That and any short Walt Disney ever conceived of as well! The quality is undeniably the same; the morality lessons even clearer than those delivered by their American counterparts!

These productions also made ingenious use of classical music and time-honoured pieces in a way that tops anything else of the kind - including the times Elmer Fudd and that certain hare went to the opera...!

Volk and Zayats are a tad like Tom and Jerry - but with more realistic plotlines overall, if one can achieve that with a cartoon scenario...! The usual plot device here is a comical chain of events -accidents, really- that make it impossible for Volk to come to realize his devious plans... Make that a singular plan, one that is quite basic to say the least - but let us not give too much away here, I suppose?

Zayats is much more likable than that certain hare from my childhood we just mentioned: you know which one - the one who always asked "what's up, doc?"

Volk is everything Wile E. Coyote aspired to be.

Cherubashka is just the cuddliest thing - and with such a heart-gripping story too! For it is a toy, unwanted and ignored, that finally is given a home by Kosyak, the (one supposes to be a teary-eyed) crocodile; so it is forever grateful to the crocodile and with good reason too. Much more touching a story than any Colargol episode that I remember from this side of the iron curtain...!

Makes one wonder why singers such as Sting hoped the Russians loved their children too - of course they do! And they were in the habit of making wonderful cartoons for them as well - every bit as fun as the American ones, but with the added touch of often having a valuable message and lesson in it, as well! Unlike the American cartoons, made for pure unadulterated fun and profit, there was no profit to be made in a communist regime. Thus the cartoons were, ironically enough, all the more innocent and artistic while emanating from such a regime! Just watch now and see for yourselves: the first cartoon on the following playlist is the one with the raccoon and the monkey, plus a lake creature that, at first, scares the raccoon but then he realizes that most valuable lesson of all: a smile is the start of a beautiful friendship. After that, more Volk, Zayats and company! Overall, the lesson is crystal clear: you get back as you've given. It is something that everyone can agree with and could agree with even back then; when there was an iron curtain...

Who would have thought there were such cuddly, friendly creatures hiding behind the iron curtain back in 1969, hmm? Not the Americans - that is for sure!

:)

+++

1987

2011-08-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

On December 3rd, 1987, former Boston Bruins star forward Phil Esposito had a special retirement day celebration back in the venerable old Boston Garden (aye, the original one!)

Now, NESN is evoking any and all such "great moments in Boston sports" in a futile effort to determine which one stands out the most...

On some occasion, they had video evidence to back up the nomination, as it is with this great (or rather touching and well-staged; not to mention classy, from an organisational point of view) moment:

Am I aging myself too much by stating that I remember seeing this LIVE on cable TV back then? (And how did I see it, I wonder? Probably it was a Boston-Montreal game again? That would explain why it would have been broadcast in my area! Otherwise, even though Bruins captain Ray Bourque originally hailed from Ville St-Laurent, they didn't give a damn about any Bruins ceremonial presentations in that area! Unless I saw it all in some highlight reel somewhere? That is quite possible too - although the ENTIRE ceremony? (Yeah - even the bits with Phil's bimbo wife by his side - I remember it all!) Anyhow - no matter where and how I saw it all originally - the video above captures the entire thing for us ALL to see! And remember fondly...

I'm just too lazy to track down the information about who the Boston Bruins were scheduled to play and did play back on that cold December day back in 1987!
Sue me, willya?

Now, NESN presents these "greatest moments" in a playoff format reminiscent of the March Madness tournament too - forcing fans to choose each round...! That is, quite simply put, pure torture for the fanatic - but that is beside the point right now!

And so it was retirement day...

Well, a "retirement day" it was, yes, but for Phil's number 7, not for Phil himself! He had been out of the loop for a while already back in 1987 - although he remained involved in the world of hockey in some capacity (but that wouldn't last.)

It was nice to see Phil surrounded by some of his old teammates, several Boston Bruins officials (such as the perennial Harry Sinden) and applauded by all the fans and the Boston Bruins players of the day, several of whom even I, an assiduous fan of the team, cannot recognize or readily recall at all...!

Tis a golden moment in the midst of an overall very successful time for the Boston Bruins as the team made the playoffs every single year (a record they own exclusively now - something like 30 straight years qualifying for the playoffs; it will never be equalled!) and they counted in their line-up, aside from team captain Ray Bourque, two future front office figures and vital cogs in the championship-seeking wheel back then: Don Sweeney and Cam "The Man" Neely! Neely was, in effect, the heir apparent to Esposito - but Bourque wore Espo's old number 7... Bourque was the second coming of Bobby Orr - however it was another defenseman that would successfully lead the Boston Bruins back to Cup glory, one handpicked by Neely himself: Zdeno Chara, of course, in these past playoffs that completed the 2010-2011 season. But we are digressing right now...

Back to Espo's moment with Bourque and the Bruins...

The young Ray Bourque acted so nobly and unselfishly in surrendering his number and jersey back to the veteran who wore it before him - he had always acted as "team first" exemplary athlete and that was why he had been given the "C" (first as a co-captain with veteran Rick Middleton and then by himself as the role-model and blueprint for all Bruins players to come!)

Phil Esposito recognized the gesture from "one of the greatest players today" - that was the best accolade that he could give to the Bruins player who comes ahead of him and maybe even ahead of Neely himself and second only to Orr as "greatest Boston Bruins player EVER". Espo also recognized the 1970s fans, the "love story" between them and the team that he had been a part of, a team led by Bobby Orr... As you can hear him say in the video, he had been "looking forward to this for a long time".

Phil Esposito, alas, ruined everything by his attitude afterwards - not giving a flying fig about Boston's championship runs in subsequent years (the young man who so unselfishly gave him the jersey off his back there, Ray Bourque, captained two teams all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals; the very next year after that touching moment and in 1990. The team could have gone all the way in 1991, 1992 and especially 1993 too. Each time, Phil acted as he had no ties whatsoever, not even on an emotional front, with the team that made him famous. Heck, the team that made him him a legend. (Yes indeed - and if you all think it should be team Canada in the 1972 series versus Russia, well, think again! In that series, all Phil proved was that he had a temper...) And, to see that, is just plain sad.)

Speaking of a temper, Esposito's is displayed in the very next video - ironically it comes on right after the retirement of the jersey and number video, by association on YouTube. I swear, sometimes, YouTube seems to be downright malicious in the associations that they make when it comes to their "related videos" - but that is another story! Most ironic of all, though, is the fact that Esposito's temper is displayed here while he was a New York Ranger recently traded away from the Boston Bruins in the seventies and he exhibits no love lost for his old team already - which is the professional thing to do, of course, in the wild wild mercenerial world of hockey and all... But, still. Also of note: in his Rangers days, Espo wore a familiar number that he would legate to Ray Bourque by sheer circumstantial happening: the number 77.

Oddly enough, as you saw, this video leads to that one: a new Espo on the block taking on another contemporary of his with a familiar name that evokes another era entirely, that of the camaraderie amongst Big Bad Bruins: the Cup champions of the early 1970s! It only comes to reaffirm that Phil is no longer pals with anybody in Boston - even through namesakes who might be no relation at all! Phil couldn't care less about his old teammates now: Wayne Cashman, Ken Hodge, Derek Sanderson

Even Bobby Orr, whom he addresses as "the greatest player to ever play the game" at the retirement of his jersey and number back in December of 1987...

Phil wasn't at any of the games in the latest championship glory that befell his old team, from May to June 2011. Bobby Orr was. Several others were. But not Esposito. He was quoted once again as not caring one bit about it... His exact quote was: "I could care less about Boston" according to some sources, which, alas, displays a lack of education as well as the attitude problems that were never solved since the seventies and, most likely, his trade (and now, due to old age and all, those will never be solved, most assuredly.)

Phil Esposito was a more prolific scorer than Terry O'Reilly was - but the latter is the better Bruin. (The former, as good as he was, couldn't beat goalies such as Dreary Dryden when it counted the most. O'Reilly beat'em all up - and then he led the Bruins on several triumphs over the likes of Rampant Roy, as a coach in the 80s! Espo's track record as a GM and coach over the same span of time, in NY and Tampa, is quite dismal in comparison.)

Phil Esposito may have had a higher profile Wayne Cashman, Johnny Bucyk, Ken Hodge and the rest of the 1970s Bruins - and he may have had a cleaner image (back in the seventies especially) than Derek Sanderson - but all of these former Boston Bruins are greater than he is for they remain in the club's entourage, participate in the Bruins' Alumni activities that benefit their community, have been associated with the organisation in their post-player careers off-and-on for all these years and remain, hence, a part of the Bruins family.

Phil, meanwhile, is much like the prodigal son that is lost.

And, in his case, the prodigal son will never return.

It's his loss.

Still, his passage through Boston contributed to two Stanley Cup championships and several excellent seasons in which the Bruins dominated the entire NHL. When his attitude started ruining everything -and Bobby Orr's knees began giving him trouble- Espo was traded for two key components of the Bruins team that competed for the Cup in the late 70s: Jean Ratelle and Brad Park. While Espo sulked in New York and the Rangers sucked, the Bruins were still top contenders without Esposito in their line-up. Alas, they were also without Orr at that point - which accounts for their inability to convert on those championship opportunities circa 1979.

While the Boston Bruins celebrated the well-deserved 2011 Stanley Cup championship, Esposito chose not to participate in the celebrations with his former team and the extended Bruins family.

Again, it's his loss.

In comparison, former Bruins forward Normand Léveillé drove al the way from Montréal to celebrate with this extended family - despite his handicap and despite the fact that he played so few games as a Boston Bruin before illness stopped his career short in such a cruel way.

Phil can rot in Florida now - or wherever he may be! His lousy attitude and apparent jealousy of the success of his former organisation (something he could never emulate in his tenure as GM anywhere) makes him obsolete now, despite his achievements and contributions to Boston's success in the past.

I am sure his brother Tony is not like that with Chicago - and the classless Blackhawks organisation is the one that deserves such treatment, not the Bruins!

But that is another story - for another blog!

Here, we must enjoy the beautiful moments of the past - even if they are tainted with some bittersweet memories and afterthoughts...!

And so - despite everything, Phil - we still have this beautiful moment back in December of 1987, between you and Ray and the entire Boston Bruins universe!

Whatever you say or do now and henceforth will never affect nor change that!

Sempre Por O Melhor
+++

1972

2011-07-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

All of my favorites had career years
back in 1972...

Bobby Orr
led the Boston Bruins to the
Stanley Cup Championship

Ric Flair
was beginning his career
under the tutelage of
the best in the business
(not a single McMahon
was involved!)

Aquaman
was under the penmanship
of Steve Skeates
and drawn
by his quintessential artist
(whether he likes it or not)
Jim Aparo

Emerson Fittipaldi
becomes the Formula One champion
also becoming the first Brazilian to do so
and the youngest ever as well!
Épa, Emerson!
Força, rapaz!

Eusébio
led Benfica
to one of their six championships
of the decade
as well as leading them
to the Portuguese Cup
in their jam-packed
Estádio Da Luz!
Viva O Eusébio!
Viva O Benfica!
Viva Portugal!

Luis Figo,
Jason Varitek,
Mariusz Czerkawski,
Shaquille O'Neal,
Dave Roberts,
Manny Ramirez,
Jennifer Garner,
Poppy Montgomery,
Cameron Diaz,
Ben Affleck,
Claudia Black,
Maria de Lurdes Mutola,
Joey McIntyre
were all born in 1972.
(Hey - being born
is quite the achievement already
believe me on that!
But literally all of the above
would do something nice,
decades later - so
double kudos
for being born, folks!)

Carl Yastrzemski
did wonders
in his attempts
to lift the Curse
that still plagued
the Boston Red Sox
back then...
A+ for the effort!

Elizabeth Montgomery
ended her Bewitched run
in grand style
(despite Dick York
being absent
and Dick Sargent
being present)
Glad that the witchery
and nose-twitching
ended, though...
Also glad not to have
to see Agnes Moorehead
and her sewing circle
anymore...
But I was young
and innocent back then:
what's sewing, anyway?

The Boston Celtics
and the
New England Patriots
held their own
in the NBA & NFL -
one after basically
ruling it
for over a decade
and the other
after recently
joining it
(that would be the Pats
joining the NFL, yeah)

Louis De Funès,
Gilles Latulippe
and Fernandel
made me laugh so much
(residual income
was terrific too
for, at least,
two out of three
for the rest of
their natural lives!)

Patof
battled it out
-so amusingly-
with new nemesis
Monsieur Tranquille -
and it is the latter
that would prevail...
In retrospect,
it is a good thing.
A very good thing indeed.

My favorite
silver screen
stars & heroes
ruled
Tinseltown:
Charlton Heston,
Ron Ely,
Charles Bronson,
Lee Marvin,
Roy Thinnes,
Robert Vaughn,
David McCallum,
Patrick MacNee
- or they were on TV a lot!

My favorite dames
were the talk of the town:
Diana Rigg,
Tina Turner,
Lee Remick,
Tuesday Weld,
Maggie Smith,
Raquel Welch,
Amalia Rodrigues,
Susannah York,
Kay Kendall

Others, I was seeing in action
on a weekly basis
if not a daily one -
and it would soon become too much!
I wouldn't have been able to realize
it back then, but it would be
a blessed day indeed
when I would no longer watch
in action the likes of
Craig Sterling, Richard & Sharon,
the Time Tunnel duo,
Land of the Giants clique
or even the Robinsons in space!
It was a simple case of
"enough already"...

Musically-wise now...
Vicky Leandros
won the
Eurovision Song Contest
for Luxembourg
with the hit song
*Après Toi*
(music by Klaus Munro & Mario Panas
lyrics by Klaus Munro & Yves Dessca)

Several bands were doing
interesting things,
such as The Who,
the now-grungy-looking Beatles
and many, many more -
but I was simply too young
to appreciate...!
I would discover it all
much later on...
(And it shall be the subjects
of many posts here,
on the Saudades Blog!)

And Vangelis
with fellow countryman
Demis Roussos
were a band
singing such great material
as this right here:

APHRODITE'S CHILD - THE FOUR HORSEMEN

Tell me now, tell me then
what was not to like back then?
What was not to like about being a kid back when
it was only nineteen seventy-two?
;-)

OSB - 1950s-1960s

2011-06-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Aye, let us all merrily go One Step Beyond now...!

Mostly 1960s as the show ran from 1959 to 1961 - a run that totalled nearly 100 episodes. When one compares that with some new programs that run no more than

No, it is obviously not the OSB that Tony Hawk was associated with here; nor is it the Madness-type of OSB - this OSB is the original one, the only one of its kind and the BEST.

Even better than the similarly-themed (but entirely fictional) and yet much better-known Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond innovated by its very raison d'être and mandate: to stick to retelling true stories and only true stories.

Granted, TZ had a distinct advantage over OSB - the host. Rod Serling was machismo incarnate while John Newland would be, at best, described as a closeted gay by viewers today - viewers too fast on jumping to conclusions, mind you, but the appearances deceive here mightily indeed. That same type of viewers will reiterate, ad nauseam, that OSB is a tamer -if not lamer- version of TZ when, in fact, the truth is something totally upside down: OSB predated TZ (narrowingly but still it did) and its objective was never to be as outrageously prone to delve into fantasy as Serling's would do. In fact, OSB was merely continuing a time-honored tradition established in the forties; mystery tales and drama broadcast on the radio, with the added flavour of supernatural phenomena this time. Whereas "The Shadow" Knew back in the day, as Newland would point out, "the real people who lived (these stories) believe it. They know. They took that (dramatic pause) one step beyond!" And so began each and every episode of this fact-based series, for each and every tale was indeed a true account of the paranormal, nothing imagined by a scribe like Rod Serling, for judiciously-chosen example...! The differences between Serling and Newland could not be clearer: one was trying to be a pioneer of science-fiction on television while the other was a continuation of what the likes of Orson Welles had done on radio - but with a conscious focus on the real dramas lived by real people and documented as such, as well.

DVD Talk's resident expert reviewed this series when the first season came out on dvd some time ago - now that the same entire first season is available to view for free on YouTube, why not see for yourselves what the erudite television historian was talking about all along there? You will be glad you did. What's more, you will BELIEVE - for this is substantially more, much more than the standard Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Hitchhiker, Alfred Hitchcock Presents or other Tales From The Darkside fare that is entirely fictional - with elements of folklore and, therefore, of truth in it, inserted here and there throughout their stories, surely...

But it is not like One Step Beyond - nothing is.

Perhaps a fine introduction to the classy classic here would be to first listen to its music - fine music like they used to compose for the first generation of television shows; those were the days - and such a soundtrack album is indeed available to you all. Just click on the image below, which is the jacket of said album, of course, and you will be transported... one step beyond? Well, to a dimension of sound and of mind anyways - no, wait, that's what the other guy would say... You will be transported to another review of porduct - that is all! There!
:)

However, you are all strongly encouraged to see from your own eyes what the buzz and fuss are all about; aye, do not, I repeat NOT merely believe what we are telling you about this classic show, all of us convinced reviewers found on the web - go and see the show yourselves (and for free - can it get greater than that?) right here, on the ever-lovable YouTube! Click here, for your better convenience...!

And leave your scepticism at the door -
while you enter freely and of your own will - of course!
;-)

2001-2005

2011-05-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ahh...
How I miss those idiots in the Oval Office
(why capitalize the abode of idiocy anyways?
The oval office it is!)
The new idiotic administration
is not NEARLY as entertaining
as the preceding one used to be...!
:(

Better luck
next time, eh
USofA...!

:P

~``~+++~``~

2011-03-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

For anyone

who has ever

lost

someone near

someone dear

someone

irreplaceable...

It is not true, though;
nothing fades away
nothing is forgotten
nothing goes away

Everything stays
within us

+++

1977-2007

2011-03-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

1988-1990

2011-02-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

LES PARFAITS SALAUDS!
Only I could remember such a band!

Back in the 1980s, there was this slightly off-key weird new band made up of guys who dared, quite obviously with some financial support, to pursue their dream of becoming their territory's version of... the Rolling Stones? Only problems were that there were many other bands vying for such a position (Bundock, The Box, Loverboy etc...) - they were doing it in French and... they were not that good.

They were not that good at all.

See and hear for yourselves now;

They did have a vivid imagination, one could say...

Alas, they were always stuck with the image of the unprofessional band that tries so hard to overachieve...

Local funny guys RBO had some fun at their expense too (the Salauds were, in truth, but one of hundreds of victims of RBO humorous denigration... But that is another story, one that is truly unworthy of my precious blog here!) as they parodied the following song with the words "200 jours à pratiquer dans le garage!"

Sad to say - but RBO had a point there...

Perhaps it is sad to say so - but ALL of these songs evoke good memories for me!

My favorite would actually have to be this one right here:

If only due to the line heard early on:
"quelqu'un frappe à la porte
que le diable l'emporte!"

What a gem - one that truly summed up my attitude at the time...

I suppose it was the Salaud side of their Parfait(e) attitude showing up there, hmm...

Les Parfaits Salauds then disappeared from both radio airwaves and videoclip TV stations...

They still rock on, this many years later, though -
and here is the evidence:

Truth be told, the guys' greatest weakness was indeed their songwriting.
Their lyrics were oftentimes odd, if not outright horrible...
Such lyrics as this:
"vampire ou démon
Je dois payer pour avoir son corps!"
Yikes!
Songwriting was never these guys' forté indeed -
with the exception of one or two memorable lines,
here and there, as previously noted...

The lead singer never really got it all together either.
His voice lacked just the right intonation at the right time, somehow - annoyingly close but always off. Agaçant, en effet.

The one undeniable strength was the comprehensive play of their ensemble - they did know their instruments, at least. Alas, it was the only area where these guys were all-pro on - and it proved not to be enough.

The P.S. remain a nostalgic fave, if not a guilty one.

1992

2011-02-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

The Saudades Blog is about timelessness, in truth.

So it is in this spirit of mind that I've copied and pasted onto here what used to be found on an old Geocities page that has long vanished into web ether; but the memories remain...

Flash-forward to 1992... (Or flashback, as it is...)

I am at the crossroads - still a student at the university level but not sure what I really want to do with that, which field I want to adhere to...

I decide that I have stiffled my creative urges for too long

FAR too long...!

And I'll always remember WHEN I realized that and WHAT I was watching on cable television at the time...

Yes - it was that most reprehensible of choices :

(No - not porn! Ok then - it is the second most reprehensible thing to watch... Happy?)

I was watching WRESTLING!

My lone saving grace there was that it wasn't the sickening WWF (still going by that insignia of sorts, back then - in the good old innocent days BEFORE the panda had struck; via legal eagles!)

I was watching WCW POWER HOUR

I felt kind of justified in my choice by the mere title of the show - simply because there was an evangelical preaching show called POWER HOUR on some other network, at a very different time, and so it must have meant that to waste one's time watching that "rasslin" stuff wasn't so bad in the Eyes of The Lord after all...?!

I could be wrong there...!

I was siding with the underdog in doing so too - something that surely pleases our Good Lord. :)

WCW was timidly trying to broaden its horizons by coming onto a market that typically belonged to the rival WWF... Or "The McMahon Circus", as I call it, whose product I always found profoundly dumbifying...

Hence, I wasn't going to watch THAT...!

I needed something either wittier or more profound.

More wholesome family entertainment too!

In WCW, one found all that in the years 1988-1999! :)

Then they began to emulate the damnable competition - largely due to one VINCE RUSSO, whom I never detested despite all that... And, since then, Russo has ceased writing smut and has turned to GOD, ironically enough...!

I guess I really am ALWAYS RIGHT! :)

But I digress...

So then - back to 1992...

I can't seem to stop going back to those two years - 1992-1993...

Pivotal years that they were, indeed...

My beloved Bruins were screwed out of a potential three championships in a row, in those years... My dear father took ill then... I had so many personal choices to make then too... Truly pivotal, in many ways - as for many individuals.

I only saw that in hindsight, of course - I couldn't see it as I was living them...

Isn't it always like that...

I thought for sure that I could always go back to school - pick up where I left off once dad "would be all right"... I thought for sure that the Bruins would have plenty more "contending years" too... I thought for sure that Cam Neely's career wouldn't end so soon... I thought... I thought...

Truth is, in 1992, I started becoming less and less a "fanboy" of things - especially when it pertains to artsy things...

And I began, more and more, dissecting those things...

I looked at the creative process behind what I was seeing there...

I actually learned a lot about storytelling techniques from watching wrestling - yes!

It's a lot like folkloric story-telling from old style raconteurs...

The same basic manoeuvers are employed to bewilder one's audience...

The showmanship - the neverending saga - even the soap-opera elements; it all fascinated me...

I was hooked! But not as a fan...

I wanted to do that!

I wanted to indulge the storyteller that lived deep down in me...

The one that I had stiffled - as other forces stiffled my progress generally speaking; that is another story too, one I shall indulge in retelling elsewhere...

I remembered Tully Blanchard's words from 1989...

He and Arn Anderson had left WCW and gone up north to the WWF - and they had won the tag-team titles from the much-feared "Demolition" team - which was nothing more than Road Warriors knock-offs.

(And they didn't say their act of contrition before the match either! Amazing too - for a Bible aficionado such as Arn Anderson and a future pastor, Reverend Tully Blanchard!)

(Oh - and to win the match, they had to get TWO pinfalls, not just one! It was a "2 out of 3" match, yeah!)

(The only drawback: Tully & Arn weren't called Horsemen anymore but "Brain Busters"...! They were the thinking man's tag-team, yes, but still... That name SUCKED! Bobby The Brain Heenan or not...)

The fact was, if McMahon couldn't get them - he'd emulate them!

Once he'd get them, he'd misuse them and rename them in the unfortunate process (before casting them aside and letting them go back where they originated from as "tainted goods" that is...! Sure, it is having what one could deem "good business sense" - but it is despicable nonetheless! But I digress once again...)

With Tully and Arn though, he had one half of the dreaded Four Horsemen right there...!

And they had delivered - they had beaten the genuine article, the Road Warriors

Of course, they were going to beat the parodies as well...!

Hence, they should have remained The Horsemen... If copyrights had allowed it, of course!

And Tully's words reverberated in my mind, and those words were, really, Julius Caesar's words - but since everything's in the delivery, I remembered Tully's way of delivering those words better than any actor who had ever portrayed Caesar on the silver screen...

"We came, we saw, we conquered"

Veni, vedi, vinci!

My conclusion was, if I stop being my own silencer (self-sabotage),

I too can go, see and conquer!

I have to go for it though!

What medium would serve my creative urges best though... hmm?

THAT was the 250,000$ question!

Writing for wrestling seemed pretty darn interesting...

Certainly because it could also offer the opportunity to do some "on stage" acting too!

I was nostalgic of the Four Horsemen

And here, in the WCW of 1992, was a group trying to be them - the Dangerous Alliance!

I recognized that it was the brainchild of one "Paul E Dangerously", who was a funny acerbic guy who was just hysterical with his histrionics, mannerisms and assorted idiosyncracies...

That's right - he was a hell of a lot like MOI! And he was, of course, fully part of the "action" itself too...

And so I thought up one of my earliest group scenarios...

"The Luminous Seven"!

Of course, why not?

As with all my groups before (Aqua Force and other comic-book projects) and after (TBA - to be announced!)

And also just like any other "solo" project of mine ;)

This grouping of seven was purposeful

They had a cause - a mission - a true raison d'etre!

I like things that have logical explanations, you know...!

And so, with my Luminous Seven, way before similar groups would come aborning

(RTC; Raven's Flock; M.I.A.; bWo; LWO; Radicalz; Truth Commission; D.O.A.)

I had the idea to regroup mid-carders and disrespected legitimate legends, innovators, true originals

And have them rebel against "the system"!

The tyrannical unfair system, I might add!

In a way as to be a sort-of homage to three of my all-time favorite such groups...

The Three Musketeers

The Four Horsemen

and the Magnificent Seven!

And so was born, quite by itself, my famous LUMINOUS EQUATION...!

""3 Musketeers + 4 Horsemen = The Magnificent Luminous 7""

Now the thing was - WHO would they be?

It was after much consideration that I wound up including myself in the mix there...!

In Europe, it is considered the "comble" of narcissism to do autobiographical things out of your fiction...

Only in wrestling could it come to "pass"...!

And so, my original line-up of L7 was...

(BTW - I also do believe that MY L7 predate the sapphically-inclined girl band L7 - whose song "Pretend That We're Dead" is the lone one I like from their entire repertoire, really...! But that is, again, another story...)

So, anyway... ***my L7*** were to be:

TERRY FUNK

BOSTON BAD BOY

MR. HUGHES

ONE MAN GANG

NORMAN THE LUNATIC

LANNY POFFO

and MOI - LUCIANO PIMENTEL!

Hey - I was the glue that would make them come together and gel quick as a team under ONE COMMON CAUSE!

I deserved to be there!

Besides, in tag-team matches, the three huge guys there (Hughes -duh- OMG and Norman) would really palliate to my lack of ring experience...!

I was and still am convinced that I'd provide much "ring generalship" and overall leadership, even if just as a manager, in the midst of waging battle... ;)

Oh yeah...!

In the Triple B and "Funk U", I was embracing the EXTREMIST cause...

Way before there was an ECW too...

I am not that partial to "hardcore action" - in the ring or captured on film in the bedroom...!

But I can sympathise with people who are passionate about what they do...! Especially in the case of hardcore violence in pro-wrestling which is akin, to me, to monks who are into self-flagellation...!!!

They deserve respect for that - and, it seems to me that Funk gets little respect...

And so did Boston Bad Boy - during the course of his short life as it was...

(Besides, I am a Boston fan - one who had also found 1986 hard to swallow... One who was rooting for the Bruins... One who was Celtic Proud... And in near-despair about lifting the curse that still haunted the Red Sox at that point... Just like Triple B there, I am sure!)

I have since created a character in honor of Triple B...

But that is another story too - for it another project as well!

I also espoused the cause of the doomed-never-to-main-event jobber...

That was the reason of having Mike (aka Norman The Lunatic) there...

Although, I thought I couldn't do too much of that...

I realized immediately that I needed to have somebody out there that I could realistically pin for the 1-2-3 count - and that was the generic jobber right there!

So, the real cause embraced by my group here was the MID-CARDER's PLIGHT!

Those guys who will never get TITLE SHOTS...

But are, at least, within striking distance... in the middle of the pack... stuck in that grey area between stardom and near-anonymity...!

Lanny Poffo was certainly that

Plus, we share the same initials!

Curtis Hughes was more of a bodyguard for us all - although he had just "been there, done that", so I thought he'd be happy if we all helped him getting World Title opportunities!

And as for OMG...

OMG...!!!

Well, actually...

He was the ideal goon to have on your side! ;)

It is easily noticeable that this group's conception came waaaay before the "T'n'A" era in pro-wrestling -

And the emphasis on "sports entertainment" (read: smut) that the McMahon circus brought about, soon enough...

But, of course, women could have tagged along with us seven...

Luminous Valets! ;)

There were, back then, as there are now, plenty of ladies in wrestling to choose from...!

In 1992 though, I wasn't half as familiar with the "wrestling universe" as Ric Flair called it once...

As I was still much into the four-color universes of super-heroics from my youth instead - the DC universe and Marvel universe which I had wanted to write about up to the 80s... (And, as it is, I finally gave it a shot only in the 90s!)

That was, in great part, why I had decided to "stifle those creative aspirations" in me...!

I mean - comic-bookies?

Before I even knew for sure, I had a bad impression about that "industry" - its "cocoonness" - the rampant nepotism there...

And its near-sightedness AND short-sightedness too!

Besides, I had found wrestling to be a "real-life DC or Marvel universe" - very nearly!

Within reason, one could say that indeed!

All manners of outrageousness was there, in this "wrestling universe" - and it was all "real"

You actually had a Thor, a Superman, a Hulk, a Konnan, a Wolverine and a Vampiro (soon enough) - even an Arachniman!

Best of all, you had actual tangible Horsemen! (Led by an Aquaman - the Nature Boy!)

One didn't have to wait for the Apocalypse to see them either!

I thought I could be a part of that...!

A "sign" of sorts was when I noticed a lookalike/soundalike of mine already involved in the sport - Luc Poirier!

And Luc Poirier is a penname I use quite often!

Then again, judging by Brian Pillman, Eddie Guerrero, Louie Spicolli, Mike Alfonso, Scott Bigelow, Owen Hart, Elizabeth Houlette and so many others,

Wrestling can be the theater of so many tragedies also

With the bad karma that has been following me around, I cannot believe I'd be any better than another one of those...

(Note: I do not believe in karma per say - but I do believe in hexes and the evil eye - as I've seen evidence of that...)

Still, I thought wrestling was tailor-made for a creative one like me

(sort-of like the modern-day circus to run away to, y'know?!?)

And I kept thinking I'd make my pitch to them - preferably to WCW or ECW - and become a runaway hit...!

That was up until my life took a turn for the worst, in 1993, of course...

A turn that enhanced that "inhibition of action" that I seem to have caught at birth - or rather, during my conception!

I became more "stuck up" than ever then... Truly no better off as I "came of age"...

Andre Mathieu sure had it bad as well... Back in the late 60's...

He died...

Months later, I was born...

I sure do have it - that same "inhibition of action" as a popular radio-host here, now in his 70s, called it...

Naturally, as it is - even without any "disasters" afflicting me per say... I "have it"... And it sure is inhibiting me...

Holding me back...

And so, years went by...

And before I knew it, my first stage - my stepping stone to fame - my trampoline that would have catapulted me into the stratosphere of multi-media entertainment and made ME a star...

Well - it became stale... And not as much willing to maintain an open-door policy - at all.

Andre Mathieu too had not gone for it full throttle when there was an opening and a chance for it.

He did not seize the opportunity, the chance, the moment - and the doors collapsed and slammed themselves shut.

And he wasn't let back in.

Even though he had been "in", thanks to his dad...

(The only difference really, between him and me, aside from the different types of art that are our respective fields: Mathieu's dad made him get a taste of it, way too early, but he did - while my father never opened any doors for me. Neither would my vanitous cousin Sao or anybody else with "contacts" really...)

A little more and I'd start believing in reincarnation...!

But I do not. (Same as karma; scroll back up a bit for it!)

I believe that bad vibes stick around, though...

And I was conceived, born and raised not all that far from the exact spot where Andre Mathieu collapsed, dead on the floor...

After a life that was hell for him...

I guess it is my turn now.

Hmm...?

The preceding is, all or in part, a preview and first draft of my umpteenth book project tentatively titled "Wrestling Out Of The Womb" - a title that I therefore declare copyrighted and TM to ME - ME - ME! Luminous Luciano Pimentel - whooooo!

It is entirely at my discretion how much of the above text I do end up using in the book...! ;)

Excelsior!

1988

2011-02-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Way back then,

when I first heard

this haunting tune,

I felt like it did

certainly apply

to many more

current themes

than what it

was applied to -

basically

a sordid twist

on the lost boys

of Peter Pan

realm,

turned into

bloodsuckers

for the purposes

of the cheap

exercise...

Gerald McMann

had something else

in mind

when he created

this magical song...

1960-1970-1980 Favorite Thespians

2011-01-15T23:50:00.000-08:00

1975-1985

2010-12-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

In the 1970s, DC and Marvel concurred that they co-owned a copyright on the trademark "super-heroes" - and so a third party -Mego- convinced them that they should allow all of their top properties to rub shoulders as part of the same line of toys. And so they did. This time of peace was short-lived - but it did seem to be a wonderful thing, at the time... Even though the action figures were particularly odd at times - and seemed to belong in Barbie's dollhouse rather than in the G.I. Joe cavern or tavern - or wherever that very gay Joe was hanging in fact - but that is another story.

Onwards with the joint toyline - for better and for worse.

Trust me; they made better commercials too - unfortunately only when they trimmed the toyline!

Granted, there was a certain unfortunate extension of the line first, before that - one that made both brands of super-heroes co-habitate with the casts and crews of such alternate universes as "POTA" and Star Trek as well. This odd turn of events didn't make it any worse for the toy collectors who would be enchanted, normally, to be allowed to mix-and-match characters like this, all on the same scale too, figure-wise... Imaginative kids such as me always welcomed the chance to make very different characters meet up for the very first time; all I know is that it was the norm, for me already, way before ay diversification of toyline occurred! I remain convinced that I am the only one who has ever orchestrated, even in this day and age, a gathering that included the Flintstones, the Smurfs and the Pillsbury Doughboy! But I am digressing... Mego's original (at the time) idea paved the way, years later, for the Remco mish-mash (mixing together Warlord, Conan, Hercules, Arak, Machiste, the Mighty Crusaders, NWA Wrestlers and such critters as the "Warrior Beasts" too!) Not only that but it can easily be said that, in doing such a thing, Mego ignited a trend that eventually snowballed into a myriad crossover events in more than one media: as it is, now, every imaginable character property can be seen meeting up with another one - if the slightest show of demand is there! That all began, surely, with Mego allowing kids to have DC heroes and Marvel heroes battle it out with each other's rogues gallery *and* land smack in the middle of the Planet of the Apes as well - maybe after being beamed there via Star Trek's technology! My only complaint is that Star Wars wasn't part of the same collection, too... Well, you can't have it all! As it was, Mego's assemblage was sufficient to inspire many things, some less tasteful than others; it begat certain undeniable funny moments in toyland though, such as this one:

Okay - maybe that was too infantile, even for big boys who play with toys, still...

Mego was the premiere action figure maker of the 70s though; despite all of its goofs, visible flaws and on and on...

Its disappearance from the market, after a scale-down of the figures, both in dimensions as in numbers, attempt failed in the early 80s, was totally predictable.

And then, some ten years after Mego's heyday, the action figure industry finally got it all together and truly got it right: but separately. The joint trademark was no longer reason enough to share a line of action figures - so each went their own way and "may the best line win" they said...!

DC...

And then Marvel...

The winner seems to be very obvious there!

They changed everything... I guess. And from simple action figures, these things became mini-statues worthy their weight in gold or something...!

Good luck finding one of those now precious collectibles in anything close to "mint condition" - at an affordable price, that is! Then again - maybe you should save yourself the time hunting these down and forking over any abusive amount of dollars for them in the first place - and donate a part of or all of that sum to a good cause; like the poor who have nothing in this world or the environment and its millions of living creatures that are dying because mankind wants nothing but... profit. The very concept of "collecting" was created by people who know nothing more than profit in their daily vocabulary. Collecting, ultimately, may be the most pathetic aspect of consumerism, due to its quickly attained level of total and complete lack of usefulness.

Remember *that* now...!

Christmas

2010-12-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

Aye, it is.

It's Christmas Time -

again.

And there will be

scary ghost stories -

according to one

old Andy Williams

who must be senile

and confusing it

with All-Hallows' Eve!

It's the most wonderful

time of the year -

that much he ascertains.

Hearts will be glowing

when loved ones are near.

And tales of the glories

of Christmases

long, long ago...

I always liked history myself,

but still...

It will be a gay happy time,

he furthers...

It is official -

he is senile.

But that is not the

main concern right now...

What is,
you ask?

That Christmas
is, has been,
and always will be
as long as the world
endures,
a time of peace
and serenity.
One huge paradox
right there;
for the world continues
to be a hellhole
all throughout
the year -
24/7, non-stop,
without a pause
for peace
nor serenity,
much less
to remember
the reason
for the
season -
the one true
reason
for it all...

And thinking of it
should make us
remember
the pain,
the suffering
that continues
all over the globe...

For He Was Born
To Suffer...
For He Was Born
To Die
For Us...

I always thought
of these things
whenever it was
"Christmas Time -
again"

And it shocked me
that others
would not even
think of the
very same things
on the exact
same occasion...

Because it is
Christmas Time
again
for everyone -
everyone in
abundance
and everyone
in need...

That
and many more
reasons
explain why
my favorite
Christmas Song
is not
Mr. Williams'
classic
nor
any other classic
but this one
right here:

Merry Christmas

+++

1984

2010-09-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

1993-2009

2010-07-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

1990...?

2009-08-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Mange l'ours Mange - Dans le Noir

Mange L'Ours Mange

A band that, much to everyone's surprise, STILL exists; the evidence of this being that they have their own MySpace (then again, tons of fictional characters also have theirs - several times over too! But that is another -odd- story...) and they also have their own website... Thus, I think we can hazard a guess here and say that they are still making music, somewhere... somehow!

Me? Or I should say "MOI?" - more than ever before, here...!
I just like the song "Dans Le Noir" for its obvious tongue-firmly-in-cheek humor while dealing with what we know in such an aloof way...!
The lyrics just say enough NOT to be vulgar - a rare quality, especially when it comes to Quebec rock...
In short... Fun lyrics - great beat!
And the videoclip - its montage making ample use of footage excerpted from MANY classic films; some are in color but since many are very old films never even colorized by Ted Turner, the ensemble was turned into a Black-&-White cool vid that transcends all the boundaries of imagination and plain old FUN! Even the few tidbits of footage that show band members that cannot truly play up to the camera do not ruin the flow - quite a feat, I tell ya! The front man, and maybe the bear in question here, sure can play to the camera - in a somewhat still limited way, but still; we cannot ask too much from Quebec rock stars, especially now as they come out from those insipid "Star Académies"...! (But that is another story too...)
I'd like to finally know who the girl is though - the one whose ear he is shouting into at some point, late in the vid, and she merely flashes her perfect smile as a fan accentuates the air blowing in her direction...! Nice F/X - the best we can expect, again, coming from Quebec - but you've guessed it; it is another story as well... That chick looks familiar, somehow; must have been doing commercials for Loto-Québec or some damn thing like that!
STILL, I simply love this video and it is probably the sole strongest reason why I still remember this band at all! I remember taping this video more than once, on sheer instinct, whenever I had blank videotape ready to go in the old VCR and this video would come on either on Musique Pluche or Plus or MuchMusic's "French Kiss" showcase for (mostly) Quebec folk singers... Ah, the memories!

Cameos by Godzilla, Nosferatu, Freaks, classic stop animation monsters AND EVEN THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (ol' Gillman himself!) at the very end - all that and lots of daring scenes from the very-much golden age of SMUT; when on-screen nakedness began! Wow - vintage nudies! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT THIS VIDEO - when you're an adolescent enjoying life, that is, hmm?

They don't make them FUN like that anymore - THAT is for damn sure, anyway!

Kudos to Mange L'Ours Mange for this one - at least
(I wouldn't know about the rest of their repertoire - I remember, quite vaguely, giving their subsequent material a chance, based on my sole enjoyment of this one song and video, and all I truly remember from it is the disappointment factor kicking in... So...)

Other bands just like them that I successfully retrace on the web (and remember, first...!) will get a tiny nostalgic spotlight here as well - bands such as Offenbach/Corbeau/Corbach... and... hmm... that one band that seemed so amateurish, no matter what they tried to do in order to innovate and (most of all) improve themselves... What was that band's name, again? Nothing as original(ly odd) as "Mange L'Ours Mange" - that is for sure! It'll come back to me... hopefully!
Meanwhile, all my memory banks can muster is the title of their very last HIT - or, at least, single release: appropriately and quite tellingly it was called "S.O.S."

Stay tuned for that - and much more!

+++

Farrah

2009-06-29T17:53:00.001-07:00

The Archies' Sugar Sugar hit song from the Sixties celebrates her memory - how fitting indeed since the Sixties are the decade in which Farrah actually debuted, instantly overmatched by the likes of Sharon Tate and Françoise Dorléac, internationally-speaking, but she clearly outmatched them both in turn with her enduring appeal due to its evolution and sheer longer lifespan...

She truly took close to a full decade to reach the zenith of her fame, the apex of her brand of perfection, the summum of her popularity - a type of popularity that one will never see again. Everyone, and we do mean EVERYONE, wanted to have a Farrah poster just like this one, up on their walls:

No TV star, movie star or music "icon" since has ever come close to be as popular as Farrah Fawcett was in the years of 1975-1976-1977...
All the way into the Eighties, where others timidly TRIED to capitalize on the "Farrah formula for fame" - posing for and releasing posters, endorsing products and doing commercials, maybe posing nude (if you're a hot chick!) - Farrah remained the uncontested queen. Paradoxically, her popularity started to wane only when she began to prove her acting mettle, culminationg with her acclaimed role in The Burning Bed.

Perhaps all the nostalgics (and mindless masses that adored her unblemished golden California girl, with the infectious smile reeking of youthful innocence, golden locks and curves to die for) didn't like to see her become so firmly entrenched in "reality" - and its most dreadful aspects...

Real life was even more dreadful than "The Burning Bed" - not to say that the realities described in that book (and then the movie which starred Farrah) were not horrid, but there are even worse situations out there: one of them comes with the c-word...
That which took away Farrah's infectious radiant smile...

Nevertheless, we will all make abstraction of all these sad elements, always - and remember her as the most glowing of all Charlie's Angels, past, present or future... Forever Farrah!

Forever Farrah

+++

1982

2009-06-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thriller

produced by Quincy Jones (1982)

1. Wanna Be Startin' Something
2. Baby Be Mine
3. The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney)
4. Thriller
5. Beat It
6. Billie Jean
7. Human Nature
8. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
9. The Lady In My Life

1982...
I was still playing with action figures!!!
I wasn't all that preoccupied with girls, yet - and yet, this album connected with me, on every song! Each track resonated with a deep chord of my being - I may even attribute to tracks 3, 9 and, of course, 6, the awakening of my trademark romanticism!
I had just begun discovering film classics circa 1982, too, and to see the link being made between a bygone era and the then "today" - with Vincent Price (then the host of PBS' Mystery!) appearing on the "Thriller" track, his inimitable baritone voice ever so scary - it injected new life, also, into the fledgling historian in me!
And tracks 1 and 5, of course, stimulated me to simply FIGHT ON... fight the good fight... never give up an inch!
And I never did!
Track 7 wasn't a "classic" - but it still made me think and ponder what human nature was truly all about and, as such, it is the true genesis of my own personal "trust no one" stance - not the X-Files, at all!
Truly an album for the ages, that 1982 vinyl record, that I still own and will not get rid of now, that MJ has passed on; for it is ten times the collector's item it was before!
And to think that he would never again make such an album (BAD and Dangerous are distant seconds - while HIStory contains his true greatest song ever (Earth Song - and the true greatest video he ever did too, I say) but it was not a new album - merely a compilation)
And to think, also, that one could learn so much valuable lessons from such a confused, tortured soul as MJ's; allegedly a pedophile, treated like a "freak" for the last twenty or so years of his, all in all, very short life...
I never even knew he was merely ten years older than I am.

Wish it was 1982...

I bet he does, too.

RIP - MJ.
+++

J.A.B. - Just Another B-Day...

2009-05-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

Have I truly seen
that many things, already,
during this pilgrimage called LIFE?

I've caught a glimpse
-just a tiny glimpse-
of the Sixties...

Enough to be forever enamored of them,
somehow...!

I've seen the Seventies
and all the changes,
for good or for worse,
that they brought...
It was the time of many FIRSTS...
First kiss
First heartache
First slap in the face!
The Seventies -
God, I wish I was back in them now!

(I know -
careful what we wish for;
we might just get it!
But the likelihood
that The Almighty
Will allow me to time travel
is very, very slim...
So...)

I saw the Eighties
and I wasn't impressed!

Of them, I'll remain most fond of
travels I made
and certain important steps I made,
but overall
I sure don't miss the pimply bulk of it!

I've said too much, methinks!

Just recently,
of course,
like most of us reading this,
I saw the Nineties...
And, boy - I wasn't impressed there either!
Seems like yesterday
- and in many ways, it was -
and there isn't much to retain
and much to forget
and forgive too
about them...

And, in the last nine years
I feel like I've gone the long nine yards
and there was no touchdown at the end...!
:(

Maybe it's just an impression of mine too...?

Ahh...
Do I sound...
dare I say the word...
blasé...?
Do I?
Nah.
No way!

LIFE BEGINS AT 40.

I've heard that somewhere...
And, just now, you've read it somewhere
on the TLB Prime Network!

And so
it must be TRUE!
:)

Age is just a number -
don't you know that yet?

I've learned so much
in all my decades
of LIFE!

+++

All these years... 1975-2005, or just about...

2009-02-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

No,
I never meant to cause anyone
any trouble.

Sorry
-sincerely-
to anyone
that I might
have caused
any,
ever,
at any point in time

So sorry

I only ever meant
to help...

and do the right thing.

+++

1980...

2009-02-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

I have started this blog -an umpteenth addition to my honorable TLB Prime Network- as a way to verse nostalgic freely and unabashedly, as often as I see fit. I thought it was the only way to go; after all, when bothering to look back, does it not make sense to focus on the good stuff and forget the bad? I've the lambasting blog for all the "bad" anyways...

That remains my prerogative and my modus operandi here - and it shall continue to be so.

However, I cannot avoid mentioning the constant temptation to do as most do, out there; case in point, Amos here...!

It seems like it is more popular to look back in total dejection and rejection of things past, passé and once, as painful to admit as it may be, cherished by the blogger/columnist himself...

I do not condone that approach - but I must admit it sure is tempting indeed! Oftentimes, I hesitate on whether the material I want to publish here isn't more fit for the lambasting, loquacious or outright ludicrous blog(s)...! I force myself to select only the old favorites of a lifetime for this blog here; and, sometimes, it is not so easy to shed the ol' sarcastic tone - no, it is not! I aim to praise only, here, on The Saudades Blog (though never as much, as fervently and as passionately as I will on Luminous Praising Of The Divine - of course!) - but there's always that little devil on one's shoulder that goads us into making a little joke about this, and another about that... Soon enough, it's not an homage but a put-down that we have on our hands! Much like what Amos and 1001 others do on a consistent basis; for controversy breeds attention and in a multi-mediatic world rife with short-attention span disorders across the wires, that is not to be overlooked!

I will strive for controversy, on occasion, just about anywhere - and, more persistently, on my Ramblings In Writ site! But, here, with oftentimes material, artisans and artists that cannot DEFEND themselves anymore - I will never stoop as low as those other guys do! Never! Why bash certain trends that were deemed to be "red-hot" or "the crème de la crème" in its heyday; just because we've purportedly "outgrown" them and "evolved" beyond it...? What manner of refinement is this, anyway, in a day and age where they have to resort to cutthroat competition in order to FIND that next American "idol" - HUH? Can you tell me? At least, in the old days, it was left backstage; and the best may not have always won, but we were led to believe that such had been the case! It is hard to imagine that Doris Day or Connie Francis were she-devils backstage, out to cut down any competitor that threatened their reign atop the mountain of ephemeral celebrity. I am NOT saying there weren't massive amounts of hypocrisy back then; because there always was and there always will be! Howvere, if there are harpies of fame like that throughout the history of show-business, they are far numerous NOW... Hence, reserve the presumably well-deserved bashing to the flavour of the day - and leave the classics alone! Isn't it already bad enough that they fell out of favor with the masses nowadays? I think so too.

In the particular case that was brought to my attention today, we have the sordid case of sappy, cheesy, "syrupy" love songs that do not reflect the human emotion anymore but rather mirror a distorted, heavily-romanticized illusion. And yet - most of these songs have stood the test of time! They may seem silly to some, today, but they were once the top of the charts! And they actually attempt to put into melody and into words the NOBLEST of sentiments, motivations and intentions; that, alone, deserves NOT to be dragged in the mud (be it syrupy sweet and cheesy good or not!)
Don't get me wrong; I was never a fan of Air Supply (even though I love having a constant supply of air indeed - ha ha, easy joke that you've heard before; I know.) and most of Bobby Darin's, Lionel Ritchie's, Stevie Wonder's, Extreme's, Chicago's, Peter Cetera's, Bette Midler's, Kenny Rogers' and/or even Bryan Adams' repertoires have left me indifferent over the years. HOWEVER, I recognize quality and good taste when I see it - and all of these artists have it, in spades. Their biggest hits, having been played over and over again on the radio waves for most of my LIFE, have become intricately woven into my memories too; whether I wanted it or not! We're all in the same boat there; we should choose to recognize the merit of these things rather than look for the flaw and worst aspects of it. After all, these songs played A LOT in the background of some of our BEST DAYS: for pleasant summertime memories never fail to resurface whenever one of these tunes plays and I accidently catch a portion of it - or all of it. They are quality pieces and as such they are GOOD...!
We should never criticize them for any lacks they might have had; doing so is akin to pointing out our grandparents and parents' least aggravating flaws, in public, for all to see and hear...!
We should instead thank the stars, GOD and maybe even radio stations across the land for NOT playing alternate choices; you may imagine how different those summertime memories would playback now if the background music was AC/DC or Alice Cooper, playing to the hilt...

As it is, though, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that, in my personal book, Alice Cooper and Lionel Ritchie are pretty much squared evenly in the "songs I've surprisingly liked for quite a while now" department! After all, just for one example, Alice's "Eat Some More" and Lionel's "Dancing On The Ceiling" somehow go together PERFECTLY - don't you think too?

A typical party's scenario unfolding, circa 1980 - indeed!

The best thing to do is this: enjoy ALL of these songs, not as Amos suggested (cheesy songs in one corner, along with high school poetry, graffiti art maybe, Lifetime movies and Harlequin novels - pleeeease! And what then; rocking tunes still deemed to be "cool" in the other corner, along with the latest fad in techie circles, text-messaging inane one-liners and unrated, uncensored, unwatchable DVDs? Oops - make that Blu-Rays; and I don't mean blue Tampa Ray Rays, as they will be all of 2009 now... But I'm digressing again!) but as I suggest to do: listening and enjoying these tunes, one after the other, all eras pell-mell, for each is a testament to its own creative era - and leave it at that, regardless of the (sometimes many) differences in style!

Do as I say and don't do as I do...
Er, I mean, as Amos does!

;)

And, by the way,
on the playlist
nudged in-between
Alice and Aerosmith
is one ALDO NOVA
(not Nove!)
No relation to
Heather Nova
(I think!)

RIP ROBOT

2009-01-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

B-9 is DEAD.

This time, truly beyond repair...

R.I.P. Bob May

You made my childhood

adventurous

and imaginative.

You're free now
-not lost at all-
in outer space

+++

1985...

2009-01-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

There is quite simply
no better cinematic adaptation
of a literary classic
than the one weaved together
by Richard Lester
circa 1974-1975
and featuring
an all-British cast
as the main foursome
comprising four
Frenchmen... à priori!

Such ironies
always made my delight!

This one
has to be the best of all time
and, again,
the greatest film version
of a time-honored
literary work!

I discovered it
circa 1985
and it was my favorite
right away
and remains so
after all these years!

What's not to love:
perennial bad guy
Oliver Reed
as the goodest Musketeer of all,
Athos
(still the best portrayal
of the character
you will ever see)
Rest in peace,
Oliver
+++

perennial good girl
Faye Dunaway
in her prime
as the devious
Milady de Winter
(much better
than Lana Turner's turn as she
or any other so-called actress
attempt at being her!)

perennial Biblical hero
Charlton Heston
as the machiavellian
manipulator per excellence,
the Cardinal de Richelieu!
A tour of force
in both the portrayal,
once more,
as in the mere casting choice!
After all,
at the time,
Mr. Heston was still
perceived as a heroic figure
not a gun-toting fanatic yet!
Rest in peace,
Charlton
+++

The musical score
of both films
(THE THREE MUSKETEERS
was released in 1974
and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS
which was released in 1975!)
was quite simply SUPERB -
and it is the first instance
in which I recognized that
an appropriate soundtrack
is a definite part
of the cinematic experience!
I still retain,
as a very vivid memory,
the first impression
that the first few notes
that I heard
during the intro
of the first film
gave me...
It marked me... for life!
Music has never conveyed
the pure essence of adventure
as that of Michel Legrand
right here.

Too bad
he's better known
for the theme to
Summer of '42...!

Although I liked that film too -
for other reasons!
But that is another story!

The two movies,
THREE and FOUR Musketeers,
shot as one,
have been hailed
as the most faithful
and creative adaptations
of Alexandre Dumas' masterpiece
- and with good reason.
The casting was so perfect
that it nearly backfired;
as the actors sued the producers
when they found out they had been paid
to shoot one movie
when in fact
it was really two movies
to be released a year apart!
All ended well though -
and there was even a reunion film,
in the nineteen eighties;
only one cast member was missing
Roy Kinnear, the lackey Planchet,
died on the set of this sequel
which was a looser adaptation
of Vingt Ans Après
(Twenty Years Later)
Dumas' own sequel to his classic.
The magic couldn't be recaptured then -
lightning cannot be bottled twice...
'Tis already a blessing
that it was ONCE...!

Everywhere you look,
these two movies
(this two-in-one film...?)
flirts with
cinematic PERFECTION:

Frank Finlay
remains in my memory
the funniest Porthos
ever
(sorry, Oliver Platt -
you're second!)

Faye Dunaway
was flawless
as the Milady

Oliver Reed
is quite simply
the most fascinating
and complex Athos
to ever grace the screen

The film direction
fast-paced, thrilling,
alternating drama,
action and comedy,
is a prime example
of HOW TO MAKE A MOVIE
that will truly
have an impact
with an audience

NEVER
since and never more
will we see such an all-star cast assembled:
RAQUEL WELCH
FAYE DUNAWAY
MICHAEL YORK
OLIVER REED
CHARLTON HESTON
CHRISTOPHER LEE
GERALDINE CHAPLIN
SIMON WARD
FRANK FINLAY
RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN
- all in their prime,
all at the top of their game!
Nowadays,
even a big studio
can only afford two top stars
of equal stature
(but never to be perceived
as of equal talent)
in today's market,
PER FILM...

And today's egos
would never share the spotlight like this
- split it, seven ways at least...?
No way!
Today's so-called "stars"
are high in refined ego
and low in raw talent!
And is there even
a single comical talent
worthy of wearing
Roy Kinnear's Planchet boots?

They may be gone -
and the adventures are done with -
but Oliver Reed's Athos,
the Musketeers surrounding him,
Roy Kinnear's Planchet,
Charlton Heston's Richelieu
and the late Jean-Pierre Cassel's
king of France
live on, all of them,
each time I treat myself
in indulging in these movie classics
one more time...!

Les Trois Mousquetaires!
Üç silahsorlar!
Die Drei Musketiere!
Kolme muskettisoturia!
Muskettisoturien seikkailut!
I Tre moschettieri!
De Tre Musketörerna!
Los Tres Mosqueteros!
Os Tres Mosqueteiros!

One For All... And All For Fun!

Even better than
the NWA/WCW's Four Horsemen
the Four Musketeers
taught me how to have fun
in the 1980s!
;)

Christmas Memories...

2008-12-25T10:59:00.001-08:00

Verily, I've got so many fond memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that I don't know where to start...

We're all like that, assuredly.

Not all of us will share these memories on a blog though - I assume...!

I shall - starting now!

1972
I remember first being aware of the TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS then - just as I was being taught that the Boston Bruins dominated the NHL, that there was no Santa Claus but that there was a Saint Nicholas and that Christ was God...
And we were celebrating His birthday, first and foremost!
I remember it because I vividly recall being held next to the window curtains - and the Nativity Set was set up there, too... I reached out to grab the curtains - presumably to get them out of my view, as they were obstructing it from gazing at Baby Jesus in the Manger - and I was told "não se mecho nas cortinhas!" in a playful way... I responded "O Kiko" and everyone thought I was trying to say "curtains" or "cortinhas" - but I truly meant "O Cristo"... The Christ!
+++
+++
+++
1975
I remember awaiting the Day so anxiously - my godfather worked in a toy factory and his wife (and my aunt, on top of godmother) had promised me "a box full of new toys" mostly action figures as they knew it was what I prefered... Most in the family knew it was all creative little me needed - the characters - as I made up my playsets of whatever surroundings I would find myself in! I was told, therefore, that a whole new slew of characters were headed my way on Christmas - and I braced for it big time! I introduced a storyline into my playtime - making my already present toys prepare for the influx of "new blood" into the mix! I was primed and ready in mid-November, already, to welcome the new characters into my stories! I even gave a name to the new group of characters - whose components I had narrow a clue about; all I knew was that they would be, for the greater part, ACTION FIGURES...!   I had to bide my time though - obviously - and begrudgingly did so... Until, finally, the day arrived! And the disappointment to find that I already had most of the good ones in the lot - and the rest were actually discontinued or outright thrown-away faulty models - was stingingly great!
I never again pumped myself up so much for ANY sort of gift - ever again in my life!
(The moral being: we can anticipate with baited breath, we sure can do so, when the Gift comes from the Divine - but not when it will come from mortal, human hands!)
+++
+++
+++
1978
I remember receiving my first train set, back then... That was an event! I incorporated it into all my playtime stories for years to come! Just for realism's sake...
+++
+++
+++
1981
The first Christmas without her saintly mother for my cousin São...
+++
+++
+++
1982
My first "adult" gift unwrapping: when I was given a NEW SUIT! Wow - I was no longer a BOY; I was now a MAN!
I don't like to even wear a suit!
Still don't...
Certainly will NOT wear a TIE...
+++
+++
+++
1986
I am not sure if it was after the World Series disappointment that year, or on Christmas Day per say; all I know is that it certifiably is THE YEAR in which I first drank enough beer in order to both get drunk AND decide that I definitvely did not like the taste of beer in the first place...!

Aye, I most probably got drunk on BOTH occasions...
+++
+++
+++
1990
My first Christmas as a University student!
'Nuff said....
+++
+++
+++
1999
The Ultimate Christmas -
or so I thought!
(And, yes ; I fast-forwarded to the end of the millennium right away, just to save myself some anecdotes from the years 1991-1998 that I can't remember in whole right now...! Saving them for later - on the Saudades Blog!)
+++
+++
+++
2004
The Attempted Break-In Christmas Night!
I will always fondly remember that one: "Santa" was stoned -aye, real high!- and tried getting in here while everyone was presumably fast asleep... Ahh, but I was NOT asleep! I liked the succession of events that followed: I got to shout at "Santa", defame "Santa" to his face, rumble with "Santa", call the cops on "Santa" when he came back for more, watch as he got maced (pepper-sprayed, really) in my backyard, handcuffed and beaten some more - not to mention slammed upon the hood of the car and thrown in there for good measure!
All that - and he hadn't even brought any gifts - the fat bastard!
And then - I got to call a certain someone at 4 IN THE MORNING - a certain someone that I blamed for the whole sordid happening... I shouted some more, defamed some more, insulted and threatened the JERK... Here's to you, Gourgen Sevantsian - I will NEVER FORGET THAT... (Fat chance I'll ever FORGIVE it!)
I hope you have a lousy 2009!
But I am digressing right here - and this is NOT the lambasting blog either...!
Let's move on...!
+++
+++
+++
2006
My first Christmas without a father - with a new, luminous guardian angel, watching over me...
The first Christmas of Senhora Maria Adelina Pimentel without her beloved husband João Jacinto...
+++
+++
+++
2007
The first Christmas without a father for the Da Lima sisters - and the first without her own hubby for Senhora Ines Rebelo, all relatives of mine...   I know how they must have felt...
+++
+++
+++
And then there's this year -
the first Christmas for another set of relatives (Martina and Margarida come to mind) without a near and dear one among them - whether it is a husband, a son or a brother...
I know how you feel...
+++
+++
+++
And EVERY Christmas, at least since the mid-1980s, that is, THE song that moves me the most remains the same one, as well it should be too:

Do They Know It's Christmas Time?

Three words should haunt us all:
FEED
THE
WORLD
+++

1980s...

2008-12-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

It was a good time
to dream;
of adventure,
of dalliances,
of epic ramifications.
'Twas a good decade
to grow-up in;
to mature,
to nurture
oneself
and one's
inner self
as much as
the outlaw outward.
I only wish
I knew then
what I know now.
Ah, the things
I could have realized
with the opportunities
presented to me
during the hectic
eighties...
One can only
look back now -
bemused,
crestfallen,
maybe slightly
blasé too...
One can only
imagine
what could have been,
should have been...
now.
For,
now,
it all seems
as though
it all went by
so fast -
too fast.
Almost as if
one only
imagined it all.
As if
it were all
but an illusion
this life
that we live...

Maybe it is...

+++

2008-10-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

Awooooooo!

Ahh,

Those Carefree

Worry-Free Days

When I Was

Only A

"Creeper Werewolf"

On Facebook!!!

They Are

Long Gone

Now!

Snif!

But hey -

you heard what they say...

Once a Creeper,

always a Creeper,

eh?

;)

1980

2008-06-28T16:23:00.001-07:00

As I commented elsewhere on the blogosphere, on a certain comic-bookie-related blog here...

Who's Who...?
DC doesn't still look those up - does it?

Ah - different type of Who's Who - gotcha!
;)

That Playboy cover was, quite logically enough too, the first Playboy magazine teeny-tiny luminous me ever got his hands on! My parents sure could NOT hide this one from ME, nope! Retailers didn't hide these things too much either, back then...! Sure, I'd read comic-books first and it seemed to lead perfectly into reading THAT magazine right there (especially with the cover - wow! Super-implants from Krypton they must be, then!) HOWEVER I wasn't that into DC comics before this first Playboy issue... Only got into DC afterwards!

There's a logic to all this, I am sure...

+++

Never mind the Who's Who cracks...

It's just an in-joke...!

Carry on now...!

+++

1969

2008-06-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

On this Father's Day
I understand more clearly than ever
why in the past 24 months or so
my anger has been so great
and so virulent...
I was protective
in a fatherly way
of my own father
and disliked to the utmost
the circumstances of his departure
as they made me feel so helpless
in helping him
protecting him
caring for him...
Me who has always taken
for the hard-luck hero types
and seen myself
as one too...
My hard-luck hero per excellence
was my dear father -
a man with limitless patience
true grit and perseverence.
Duty-bound and honorable.
Verily, the finest example
on how to be a MAN
in this wretched world
that we all continue to live in...
I hated the circumstances
of his hasty departure -
and always will.
I was never angry
because of the departure itself
because I do know
that it is NOT the end -
that his Soul Lives On
and that no one ever dies.
And this,
even science
would corroborate...
No energy
ever just dissipates -
and our souls
are the only energy matter
that counts
within our beings.

Back in 1969,
as my energy had been assigned
to my corporeal shell,
for however long
GOD Has Planned
for me to be around here,
my Father experienced
his first ever Father's Day
on a day like today...
And now, in 2008,
he is still experiencing it
but on a Higher Plane
of ethereal existence -
watching over me
in a sublime way.

Happy Father's Day, Dad
*You*
are the best Dad
in the World
STILL!
+++

TV Memories

2008-06-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

I never liked that show -
to me, HAPPY DAYS was so boring to watch
I could have slept through any episode!
I found Fonzie so classless,
such a neanderthal
(I'm happy to have noticed that,
Henry Winkler, in his older days,
is nothing like that!)
And as for the rest of the cast -
I found them utterly uninteresting!
If I wanted to watch an ordinary family
in the 1970s - I just had to look at my own!
Still, HAPPY DAYS evokes pleasant nostalgia for me
as it evokes carefree days,
happy days, indeed,
in which I could choose to not comb my hair
and still look terrific!
Days in which I could simply have fun
without a single worry in the world!
Days, very happy days
that I could choose to play outside
instead of watching this crap!

Didn't read the book -
but I sure remember seeing the films
with these two;
and laughing so hard...
Good, fun memories,
indeed!
Of course,
it helped immensely
that I was equal parts
Deano... and Jerry!
Every guy
has a bit of both in him
I do believe!

Captain Caveman -
though never one of my favorites,
I always thought he had potential...!
In my teeny-weeny luminous mind,
he struck me, from the get-go,
as a sort of cross between
Cousin It Addams
and a Flinstone -
thus, if such was the case,
in my itty-bitty luminous mind,
the character was doomed
to never be on top of my list!
Sorry, Cap Cave!

OK -
a George Romero
"little zombie girl"
and the Exorcist's
possessed little girl
are NOT one and the same -
but you must admit
it is pretty much
the same DAMN thing!
(Extirpate "pretty" from that -
please!)

Never one of my faves either,
the Filmation Hercules still manages
to strike a very vivid nostalgic chord
whenever I catch it on reruns
wherever...!
Truth is, I can't believe
some stations still show it -
I can't stand that goat boy sidekick
and, as I grew older,
and read about the mythological Pan,
I understood the WHY of THAT!

But let's end on a GOOD note:

1985

2008-06-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Discover Danielle Dax!

In so many ways,
'twas the start of aaaaaall my troubles!
Hence, this song FITS...

1969-70

2008-06-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

As the Stanley Cup has been won again (in a numerologically significant way too: the eleventh title for a franchise who has won 4 of the last 11... Hmm...) I feel like going back to a far better franchise worthy of winning much more than that; the Boston Bruins.
This is not their most recent conquest, but it is their most emotional since it was a first one in nearly 30 years...

The emotional celebration you can witness on the screen above, depending upon availability, where fans and players became ONE on the ice of the venerable old Boston Garden, was "voted" in as the number 6 greatest celebration of all-time in the top ten NHL greatest championship celebrations in history - and I would have ranked it higher than that (at least number 3 - yes!)

You can find the entire top ten here (hopefully - unless it was taken down already, due to controversy...?)

Comments of interest about this top ten:

"Waaaaaaaaaughtttttthhh" - nothing on the Ducks of Anaheim winning it LAST YEARRRRRRR?!?!?
Daffy posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 11:59 EDT

I don't even like the Rangers, but I got goosebumps from watching the beginning of that clip
Then they went away once Gary Bettman started talking.
Then they came back back once Messier got a hold of it.
Per chance, does anyone have any old 'Conan' clips when he had the dancing Stanley Cup come down the aisle every night during that playoff run?
'Duk posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 10:47 EDT

I'm surprised the 2002 Wings championship was the one they picked. Definitly great to see Scotty skating with the Cup, but I would have picked 1997 (ending the LONG drought, and Stevie Y getting his first Cup ever) or 1998, with Vlad being on the floor with the Wings.
Michelle F. posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 11:10 EDT

I would toss in the '88 Oilers for starting the tradition of the post-Cup-skate team picture. The story goes that Gretzky knew his time had come and wanted one last picture for posterity, though I'm not sure if that's a myth or not.
Doogie posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 11:13 EDTReport Abuse

It was great when Brind'Amour took the Cup before Bettman had a chance for the picture. I loved that.
Dewman posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 11:27 EDT

What about the 1973-74 Flyers - the first expansion team to hoist the Cup???? risingleo99 posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:01 EDT

bonjour !
m y posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:11 EDTReport Abuse

The 1967 Leafs Cup is posted to remind us all of how pathetic that entire organization and its fans have been for the past 41 years.
RON M posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:11 EDT

HOW ABOUT BRUINS IN 72 WINNING ON NY ICE. BUCYK HAD TO STAY CLEAR OF THE GLASS OR GET PELTED WITH COINS. AND HOW ABOUT CASHMANS GOAL LATE IN GAMES. THAT DANCE JUST RUBBED THE RANGERS FACE ALL OVER THAT 3-0 CHEEVERS, ORR, ESPO, CASH, PIE, SANDY....THEY DON;T MAKE EM LIKE THAT ANYMORE. WOULD HAVE WON MORE IF THEY WOULD OF CUT BACK ON THE BOOZE
sportslinepr... posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:14 EDT

I've been a die hard flames fan all my life, and the 1989 celebration with lanny and his famous beard/'stache will forever be ingrained in my skull, but My #1 pic would be the 2001 colorado, because it was classy to hand it to ray bourque. Bourque had been a top player and had at one point or other in his career earned many of the leagues top accolades. If anyone deserved to raise that cup over his head, it was bourque.
Nigel K posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:17 EDT

For sure the Flyers over the Bruins was the best series I ever seen. It was nice to see the RedWings win though. A team where players will play for a team and take a ego-cut (play for a reduced salary) to win a cup is rare. The test going forward is the Penguins .... will they take the ego-cut to stay together anoher 5-7 years .. if so they could be a dynasty. Something the Oilers of the 80's where not willing to do ... Moog, Coffey, they all left for money ... proving there only in it for the money.
IMO posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:17 EDT

where is the habs' 1993 cup win? ten overtime wins in a row !!!! that's a record that will never be matched. kinda disapointed.
Michelle H posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:17 EDT

The fact that the Montreal Canadians are not even on this list, makes it not worth while reading. 5 CUP in a row!!! Please!
Big t posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:18 EDT

I think the Calgary Flames win should be up there.
danny7777777 posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:19 EDT

nothing from the habs and they won 24 of them...yup get a life and quit journalism
rafiki_63 posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 13:20 EDT Report Abuse

hey Smoker, pass me what you're smokin', cause whatever non call lets you sleep at night and makes you believe in fairytales that the Make Beliefs would have done anything but provide a better finals Habs in 6. Patrick Roy. nuff said)must be good sh*t. Besides, the incedent in question happened in game 6- what's the excuse for game 7 (at home in Trona, too)? thanks for the utube address,by the way. I also submit that perhaps if the leafs were to follow in the example of Les Canadiens and fix their management mess(MLSE=wose than harold ballard) they might have as bright a future as we do. Than maybe we all have a better chance of seeing ANY Canadian team raise the Cup where it belongs: back home in Canada
habsrock posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 18:01 EDT

the canadiens were not mentioned because nobody likes whiny arse frenchie basTURDS!! i cant wait to watch the wings kick their arse next year in montreal making my fourth original 6 seen in their hometown. i hope its something seeing red wings vs rangers on blueshirt night on march of 7th 1994 final score red wings 6 rangers 3! a few rangers fans took exception 2 me shredding that UGLY blueshirt!! punks!! 3 on 1 and i still got the best of them!
CUP#12 posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 18:05 EDT

Where s 1998 s celebration, where (Detroit s captain) Yzerman put the cup, on Vlad s lap ?. Cooke posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 18:11 EDT

i love how the mindset of Yahoo commenters is "I don't agree, therefore it sucks". Also, i would imagine not every single cup celebration is available via YouTube
dloville posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 18:53 EDT

Anyone ever hear of the Philly Flyers. That is the Stanly Cup history making moment in the NHL. They were the first NHL 1967 expansion team to not only win the Stanley Cup once but they did it 2 years in a row.Any NHL player will tell you that anyone can win the Stanley Cup once but it is real an accomplishent to be able to win it 2 years in a row.Think about it. That was a veryimportant history mking NHL team. Forget the Broadstreet Bully Crappola. Fred Shero himself told me( every team in the leahue at that time had 1 or maybe 2 players that would drop the gloves but the difference between those teams and ours isI have 22 of them) Its about that team received the recognition that they deserve. I must add that those were a very entertaining 2 Stanley Cup finals. Even a Tornto fan would agree with that. WATCH MY FLYERS NEXT YEAR BOYS AND GIRLS.Just watch.Have a good Summer.
cometomyhs posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 18:54 EDT

all these people [profane]ing and moaning that there beloved canadiens arent on this list... oh boo hoo you have 24 cups in franchise history... good for you... half those cups also came before hockey was even televised or recorded on tape idiots... plus if you pay attention to more then half the teams in these ten clips there is a player or two that basically waited their whole career in the nhl to hoist the cup just once... this things is called the 10 best celebrations... just thought id point that out to our wonderful friends to the north...
Stu posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 19:15 EDT

I like the celebration from the lockout year, when Bettman boought himself a hot dog and celebrated the fact that hockey would very soon bump the NHL off the networks.
Kevin Z posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 20:19 EDT

easy there, capncrunch17. my husband & i just finished watching & i gotta say a little disappointed in the lack of habs celebration. not even one? sakic to bourque. . . the classiest sports moment we've ever seen.
go canucks go posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 21:00 EDT

aucune conquete des canadiens de Montreal ?????
Ce n'est pas serieux. Qui est l'ignorant qui a fait ce top 10???
Ca doit etre un americain qui ne connait rien....
Genevieve L posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 21:02 EDT

Montreal breaths, sleeps, dreams, eats, drinks, lives and dies for Hockey. Riots happen when the habs win, police cars get overturned, shops get burned down. In the middle of July, they talk about hockey, at Christmass they talk about hockey, mother's day forget it... hockey, valentines day no way the habs are playing!
How can any journalist even talk about the Stanley cup without mentioning the habs, kinda talking about baseball and forgetting the Yankees, or F1 and forgetting Ferrari, or soccer and neglecting Italy.
This journalist should be forbidden on writing about hockey for the rest of his life, come on the maple leafs are on the top ten and not the habs!
Hey journalist can you even spell bias?
Michel P posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 21:20 EDT

man you people are dense. the article is on the top 10 celebrations as in what happened immediately following them winning the cup and during the presentation, not the cup run as a whole or the team or anything else. learn to read and comprehend english. Adam W posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 23:01 EDTReport Abuse
90 I hate the habs, diehard leaf fan.But growing up in the seventies watching the habs win five in a row . You better review your list or maybe your too young. KENNEDY posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 23:02 EDTReport Abuse
91 i dont know why the habs are not in there
steve f posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 23:03 EDT

Ridiculous.... Montreal is the MECA of hockey..... Beating the broadstreet bullies.....Gainey winning the connsmyth,
5 cups in a row.... Maurice richard....Big 3.... Le demon Blond aka the Flower..... A rookie goalie by the name of Dryden... Another rookie goalie, I think his name was Roy... Claude Lemieux against calgary.... 10 OT wins in the playoffs with a grand shutting down of the Great One... Demers reading Mcsorley's illegal Curve,,,,,
COME ON!!!!!!!
Toronto is in the top 10.... No cups since 67 ....
Yahoo journalist should take a lesson in hockey cause they really screwed the pooch on this one.
What about Scotty Bowmans first cup? I guess it cant be on the list because he coach the Habs.
Yahoo Toronto!!!!!great job on this one!!!
Louis posted on Thursday, Jun 5, 2008 23:25 EDT

How do the 1967 Leafs get on a list of top ten celebrations when some of the players left the ice as soon as the presentation was over? Doesn't sound like much of a celebration to me!
DD posted on Friday, Jun 6, 2008 0:00 EDT

Ty_Bearius wrote:
GREAT top ten, au contraire! This truly captures the jubilation of the sport and winning in it - devoid of any of the political crappy meaning attached to it by the Quebec crowd! Especially in the Maurice Richard days... YOU get a life, habs fans! Your 24 cups are like a tiresome bad memory - harkening back to a primitive era when your franchise held an unfair monopoly on the talent pool available back then... I am truly ELATED not to find a single one of your "wins" here - especially not the backdoor cup of 1993! Sheesh - that one SUCKED on top of being a sad excuse for pride for Quebec (Patrick Roy is a bum - ok? His disgraceful coaching proves it today!) and that "record" of 10 overtime STEALS in a single playoff season is NOTHING to be proud of! All it means is that, on top of it being a backdoor "championship" in which you faced NONE of the top contenders of 1993 (Pens, Philly, Oilers, Flames, BRUINS) you had so much trouble defeating the second-rate teams you always needed to squeak by them in O.T. - with a garbage goal on top of that! Pathetic! Even more pathetic are your parades and your rambuctious crowds RIOTING instead of celebrating like normal people would celebrate a "victory" - THAT could NEVER make it onto a top 10 or top 25 celebrations, COME ON!!! Not even the celebrations in the 50s or late 70s - the first few were politically-tainted as I said and the later ones were just a bunch of BLASÉ players who won too much, like SERGE there (does he really deserve a BEER named after him now?)

Soooooo... great top ten, Sean L, but the 1989 Flames deserved the top spot (or the 1970 Bruins) - not the '94 Rangers, come on...!!!
Oh well - nobody's perfect!
ty b posted on Friday, Jun 6, 2008 0:09 EDT

Now THAT says it all, folks!

Because, whether you admit it or not, BOSTON IS THE HUB OF HOCKEY - and Boston is something else, as evidenced by the following as well:

;)

1987

2008-06-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

Obi-Wan Kenobi amalgamated with King Richard the Lionheart...?!?
Actually - no! This is one of the Visionaries -
"Knights of the Magical Circle of Light"

As far as Knight Orders are concerned
aside from the Holy Trinity Knights
(which are truly more of a varsity club
rather than a chivalrous order)
and, of course, the Templar Knights
and Knights of the Round Table,
I suppose that the one order
that I would prefer to adhere to
given the choice
would have to be one centered around
a Circle of Light!

Magical or not!

Nothing less for luminous (\ô/) luciano
after all
they do call me a Knight of the Light!

+++

1970s - Just Toying Around...

2008-06-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

2005-now

2008-05-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

October Project
"Return to Me"

(C) 1994 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

From me to her.

Because, sometimes,
the past, the present
and the future
can become one indeed
~like the Holy Trinity~
+++

2006

2008-05-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

I am not about to let go of

Amy Grant's masterful

"I Will Remember You" anthem

as *the*

Saudades Blog Theme Song...

However...

Nothing prevents me from adding

not just one but

several "runners-up" here...

Nostalgic songs and classics

(and some are very obvious picks)

such as

Alan Parsons Project's "Time"

Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven"

Marie Carmen's "J'Ai L'Blues De Vous"

Mariza's "Cavaleiro Monge"

The Moody Blues' "In Your Wildest Dreams"

Clannad' s "I Will Find You"

Charles Aznavour's "Hier Encore"

Marie Carmen's "Tendresse, Tendresse"

São's "Adieu Vieille Lisbonne"

Laurent Voulzy's "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wylde"

Alain Souchon's "Les Regrets"

Genesis' "Home By The Sea"

James Blunt's "1973"

Sanctus Real's "Closer"

Rod Stewart's "Forever Young"

Alphaville's "Forever Young"

Spiritus Khayyam's "Globus"

The KLF's "3AM Eternal"

The KLF's "What Time Is Love"

Depeche Mode's "Precious"

Vangelis' "Cosmos"

Bryan Adams' "Remember"

Phil Collins' "Take Me Home"

Rush's "Middletown Dreams"

Eddie Money's "I Wanna Go Back"

Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence"

Mike & The Mechanics' "Looking Back Over My Shoulders"

Mike & The Mechanics' "In The Living Years"

Bel Canto's "Paradise"

Arcana's "March Of Loss"

To name but a few, really...

All of the above, hence.

And one more

that I discovered in

2006:

Keith Urban : Making Memories of Us

Dedicated to her; it's one of her favorite artists, I do believe.

+++

1984-1988

2008-05-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ah, it's great to finally see the Four Horsemen alternate with their logo as the GIF image was SUPPOSED to do all along - only it wasn't doing it when it was uploaded via the Blogger inbred image uploader! Doubly satisfying to see this now, because not only it sticks it to Blogger, it's also sticking it to MSN SPACES, which is providing the GIF image you see above here indeed. Only, MSN SPACES -pardon, it should be "MSN Windows Live Spaces" it appears; more dead than alive but still they insist on the word "Live" being a part of it- MSN Windows Live Spaces, thus, had threatened to take all of my precious images down, due to the fact that I had, among them, several pictures of MERMAIDS, see... Yes, they have it DEEP against mermaids and *nipples* as it is - as a mermaid is, naturally, ten times out of twelve, topless... Those were, for the most part, artsy PAINTINGS, nothing even remotely erotic (much less pornographic) but still, MSN Windows Live Spaces threatened and threatened again, demanding the deletion of these "offending" pieces of ART... They could have deleted themselves - which is obvious since THEY store ALL of these images for me and they could easily SHUT IT ALL DOWN, without notice, when I did not comply with their inane demands... But, no, it had to be *ME* doing the symbolic deletion - and making act of contrition with that?

Pathetic, is it not?

The Four Horsemen would have never put up with shit like this, in the years listed at the top. They were the original gang, the elite, the rulebreakers that ran roughshod over all of their competition AND the rules as well! They dominated and were the BEST at what they did because so it was dictated to them by their chosen symbol of excellence: those four fingers raised up in the air. Certainly, it has the added plus of having Biblical resonance, but they truly were evoking the example of excellence set by collegial football legends hailing from Notre Dame...

It is certainly not as if the likes of Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson were competing for the unenviable roles of "Famine" or "Pestilence" (with the attribution of the role of "Death" going retroactively to the logical choices in different eras of the faction: Brian Pillman, Curt Hennig... Chris Benoit.)
And "War" would be... Ole? Or Sid!
But I digress, really - a hell of a whole lot, this time!

The original aim at posting something else evoking my nostalgia of NWA wrestling (that soon begat WCW in the 1990s) was this, actually:

Ever since Tully Blanchard became one of my "MySpace friends" (MySpace - never to be confused with MSN Windows Live Spaces! They made the changes in the name to ensure just that; although, deep down, the hypocrites only WISH that they'd be confused for the other guys and get as many users as they routinely do! It would necessitate making "Bill" as cool as "Tom" though - and not even all the millions that monopolistic Microsoft could infuse into THAT "project" would succeed in making THAT happen! But I am digressing yet again...!) - hence, ever since Tully is my new buddy, I have been meaning to ask him THIS:

"Mr. Blanchard,
I'd like to have your opinion on this following idea of mine.
You were a Horseman for five years and know Ric Flair as well as anybody can; so, you tell me what the odds would have been to see the scenario that follows unfold...
WrestleMania 24: Ric Flair decides to do the RIGHT THING.
He catches Shawn Michaels' boot, blocking that silly "sweet chin music" finisher and swiftly changing the storyline agreed upon for the match. He nails HBK with a low blow and tosses him out of the ring - because the referees would only do as VKM tell them to do anyway. Then, probably, Arn and several others could join him in the ring - and he'd speak out much longer than he did on that final RAW appearance...
"No, Vince McMahon - this is not the way the GREATEST CAREER IN ALL OF WRESTLING will end. Not in this lifetime, pal! Woooooooooo!"
You recognize his style there, hmm?
"I did say that I would NEVER RETIRE... And I am NEVER GOING TO RETIRE in one of your creations, pal! THIS is NOT the "grand-daddy of 'em all" - and don't YOU ever say that it is, J.R. - EVER AGAIN! You SELL-OUT!"
Okay, maybe the attack on Jim Ross could be omitted... He has it coming though.
"I-WILL-RETIRE-ONLY-ON-THE-TRUE-GRANDEST-STAGE-OF-THEM-ALL - and that is STARRCADE! Wooooooooooooo! The TRUE grand-daddy of them all - and you RESENT IT, Vince, still to this day, you RESENT THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE VERY FIRST PAY-PER-VIEW IN THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING! It wasn't YOU, pal, and it sure wasn't any of your creations; it was ME, it was REAL WRESTLING, it was the NWA, it was Jim Crockett, it was your competition, pal! The same competition that ran with you, neck-in-neck, for YEARS; YEARS, pal - just like I said on the final WCW NITRO!"
Wouldn't that have been grand, huh? And then he would wrap with this:
"And that's the way it's going to be, Vince; I will be having my final match on STARRCADE, or I will NEVER RETIRE... officially! And that's the bottom line 'cause the true icon... the living legend... the dirtiest player in the game - playing one more on *you* tonight... the limousine-riding, jet-flying, wheeling-dealing, kiss-stealing son-of-a-gun... the 22-time World Heavyweight Champion - 22, not 16 Vince... the only king of wrestling kings... the NATURE BOY... RIC FLAIR... said so! Wooooooooooooooo!"
And then a final accomplice shows up - Steve Austin? Everyone who's ever been part of the NWA/WCW tradition, basically, should have been part of such an insurrection...
Note my manoeuver to "deblasphemize" the oft-used blasphemous title bestowed upon Jean-Paul Levesque aka Triple H; confining it to their field and setting things in proper order while we're at it, within its confines still.

My question is, Mr. Blanchard - would Ric Flair have considered doing this, if someone had proposed it to him (even if it meant renouncing all the profits bound to be made with future merchandizing sales?) - would he have done this?"

I wonder what Mr. Tully Blanchard - Pastor Blanchard - would reply to that!

Maybe I'll find out yet...?

1992

2008-03-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Recently, when the Boston Bruins defeated the once-mighty Ottawa Senators (once-mighty, yes, as early as days before the game, that is...) and the Bruins did so without top forwards Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew in the line-up, I thought back to 1992 instantly.

The year when, the Bruins, without Cam Neely, Ray Bourque or Craig Janney (the three players responsible for much of their success from 1988 up to that point) managed to upset the supposedly mighty Montreal Canadiens, who would win (through the backdoor) the Stanley Cup in 1993 (the year the Bruins were favorites to take it) and the fact is that the B's would also defeat them in 1994, when the Habs were thus defending "champions" too... The Bruins, without any of their top stars (Dave Poulin was leading the troops; but he'd retire after the 1993 great team somehow did not achieve to the level called for by its tremendous potential) those 1992 Bruins, yes, actually swept the Canadiens in four straight games that year - with, of all people, Rick Bowness as their head coach too! (Bowness' highlight from his Boston days, and his entire coaching career as a matter of fact, quite clearly...)

Obscure players such as Jim Wiemer and Peter Douris had their moment of glory then: sticking it to overrated Canadiens (times do not change, it seems...) and proving once again that ANYTHING can happen in the wild world of sports...!

Too bad the RIGHT thing doesn't happen more often though!

Such are the "unponderables" in sports - and in life itself, verily...

Below: the only Bruins player who was there
in both 1992 and 2008: forward Glen Murray.

2006

2008-03-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Two years ago
Two days ago -
in the spiritual realm

Two years ago today,
those of us present to witness it
said goodbye to the
Taciturn Leader;
my father,
Joao Jacinto Borges Pimentel.

I had prepared myself on the late side,
on the 22nd,
to go see Dad at the hospital.
When I got there,
I found him sound asleep
but in a very strange manner.
Only I could tell, of course,
that something was wrong -
only I knew him well enough,
so it was me who wound up
sounding the alarm
which led to CODE BLUE
a mere few minutes later...
No one else
in that wretched hospital
would have noticed A THING,
if it wasn't for me;
not the nurses,
head-nurse,
doctors, quacks, hacks,
you name them...

It was over
right there and then -
but I ordered them to
DO SOMETHING.

And we got a short reprieve.

Six days - merely that - with Dad hooked
on a respirator...

At the end of which
we had to say goodbye
in saddest fashion.

It all happened exactly two years ago - TODAY.

NOW.

I remember the anguish
of facing all this,
alone, because the "others"
who came were of so little
support, ultimately,
and they came only after
the worst had already occurred.
The worst moments,
the pure anguish
I lived it alone.
And I remember it all
so very vividly...

As if it was YESTERDAY -
isn't that the expression?

Only, it can be said here, again,
"as if it was TODAY" -
for more than a single reason too.
Or 48 hours ago...

After all, it was two years ago for me
- but it was two days ago, for Dad.

+++

1934

2008-03-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

Today, March 14th, is my Dad's BIRTHDAY...
And it is exactly on this day that they announced
the inauguration of the NEW E.R.

at Sacré-Coeur Hospital;
the hospital where he was, last...

The hospital I felt tempted

to blame for his early demise

two years ago -

and it will be two years ago

on March the 22nd...

Dad loved that hospital though

because his son was born there

- yet me, despite seeing the light

of day for the first time there,

I always hated it

especially since 2006.

Still...
Things like that make me smile.

That they chose my father's birthday

to inaugurate a brand-spanking new

emergency ward there

-one that got made through funds

amassed during the year 2006 too-

well, I see the Hand of Providence

in things like that...

They're enough evidence, for me,

that there is a

Greater Picture...

One that we don't quite see
the whole scope of

- as of yet.

+++

1970

2008-01-31T22:32:00.000-08:00

"Take what you can from yesterday. The rest, beg, steal or borrow."

Quick - who said that?

Maverick?
No.
The main character from "It Takes A Thief"...?
NO.
Dennis The Menace?
Noooo!

Really now - you give up?
Good!
Because you were never going to guess anyways!
Not unless you are British and were watching
circa 1970-1972...

Aye, while the Boston Bruins were ruling the NHL
and winning Stanley Cups
across the pond, one TAROT
flanked by his faithful OWL
(named Ozymandias!)
were battling CRIME
with greater aplomb too
than many other TV heroes of their day...!
(Imagine that though:
the pet having a better name than the master!
Only happens in children's fare, usually
*lol* But I digress...)

TAROT and OZYMANDIAS
were fighting crime on the hit show
"ACE OF WANDS"...!

Doesn't ring a bell?

That's okay!

Here - go back in time... NOW!
Go back to 1972 - and watch:

After watching this trailer
you, too, will agree that
this duo made a far more effective
crimefighting duo
than the so-called dynamic duo
(Batman & Robin, yes)
and several other duos/duets
over the years
- even some others offered by the venerable BBC!
Sapphire & Steel,
The Persuaders,
Tara King and John Steed,
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
and The Saint with Chief Inspector Teal
aaaaaall come to mind...!

2004

2008-01-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

CHERRY BLOSSOM GIRL (Air)

Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

The definition of "timeless song"
in melody... haunting melody...
and ambiance... lyrical ambiance...

And this, despite the dreary urban tale...!

Some people tagged it "heavenly" nonetheless -
and I can see why!
Anyone can see -or rather hear- why...
(as long as the video is working, that is!)

Has this song only turned 4 years-old now?
It seems older... ethereal even!
TIMELESS...

Highly evocative of other timeless tunes
such as 10cc's "I'm Not In Love"
and The Korgis' "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime"
- to name but two...!
This would be my number three...!

THIS is the action figure that started it all for me...!

2007-12-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

AQUAMAN - circa 1976

This Pocket Action Hero didn't leave my pocket for YEARS...

(Correction: tis truly a Comic Action Hero, aye!)

He went with me everywhere I went;

to PORTUGAL, when I finally visited my grand-mother there

and threaded upon the land of my hot-tempered ancestors!

He went with me all over North America -

spent summers swimming in the pool with me -

and, of course, he would also wage battle against villainy

while I was simply soaking in the bath tub!

And then came a somber day

when it was all just too much for the Pocket Action Hero...

Some wear and tear on his plastic constitution

-along with the simple fact that he was NOT supposed to

go everywhere the "actual Aquaman" would easily access-

made the toy unravel before my very eyes!

In the midst of battle, as I recall...

I was heartbroken.

My Pocket Action Hero - my favorite -

was totally and irremediably out of commission.

In fact, he was incapacitated for good.

I had lost my best childhood playmate - ever!

(Because other kids were annoying sometimes -
the Aquaman here pictured above never was!
The best playmate is the one that never annoys!
A playmate that battled evil wherever I'd tell him to
and ran afoul of the same crap as I did -
which, in those days, were simply instances
when my bedtime came too early
or the dessert wasn't ice cream! *lol*)

Over the years, I acquired other Aquamen of fortune -

there were many throughout the years too:

the MEGO original, the Super Powers classic,

the Pocket Super Hero that is pictured below...

None would ever replace, in my heart, my first hero!

Not even the super-hero character himself,

in whatever media he's appeared in since!

Personal Favorites Series: Carolyn Jones

2007-12-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

Carolyn as Morticia - smoking hot!

No, folks
There will never be another Morticia like this one

And there sure will never be
another Carolyn Jones

+++

1970-1985

2007-12-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

Personal Favorites Series: Maxwell & Marceau

2007-09-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Juste à temps pour la Fête des Morts...?
Just in time for the Day of the Dead...?

Le Mime, maître du muet, est mort

Laissons les images parler alors...

R.I.P. BIP

Autant pour lui -
comme pour elle...

Both characters of few words,
Miss Moneypenny and Bip had no equals
and will never be replaced

R.I.P. Lois

Miss Moneypenny
was the sh!t!

1982

2007-09-04T19:20:00.001-07:00

Le temps d'un album et deux "singles"
L'actrice fétiche de certains était devenue chanteuse...
She released three singles, primarily: "Image à définir" (1982), "Maman, je ne veux plus aller à l’école" (1983) and "Si tu m’aimais encore" (1986). She was met with very mixed reviews and a lukewarm response from critics and audiences alike...
There had been a 4th single, it appears:
***Anicée Alvina - Tu me fais mal et ça te plait ***
Tu me fais mal et ça te plait...?
A not-so-subtle reference to the types of roles she was typecast in, is it...?
No wonder they try to cover up its existence, in retrospect...
On voit, par les titres, que la constante restait la même, hélas...
Chez la belle Anicée, douceur et provocation se cotoyaient naturellement
Elle était à la fois éternellement innocente
et sulfureusement aguichante...

C'est un don, ça...
Fort certainement...

Alors que l'on approche du premier anniversaire
de son départ prématuré
Il est bon de retourner en arrière...
dans les années '80...
finalement pas si perverties que cela, hmm?

Tantas Alegrias, sim... mesmo... Tantas Alegrias e Tantas Saudades, claro...! ;)

2007-08-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Portugal:

Que Alegria!

Não tem duvida nemhuma a ter

Portugal é o pais da alegria!

Tal qual como

Brasil é o pais do suingue,

Canada é o pas do gelo,

Colombia é o pais do café

(...)

e a França é o pais da foda!

*LMBO*

Mas isto é outra coisa...

1980s

2007-08-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

I guess that
I am still learning, then...?

We're all still learning
since this timeless song
was first broadcast
on local radios everywhere
sometime
or another...

Gotta stop making the same mistakes
over and over again -
we have to learn how to mend our ways
make amends and start being better
on any semblance of a regular basis...!

Granted - it comes easier to some of us
- not to all!
But that is another story...

This song brings back such good memories
summertime memories
childhood memories
days of innocence long gone by
days that will never return
people that never will either
- not as they were, they won't
Not to the same earth they shall not.

Some major changes must take place, first, you see...
Cause, eventually, WE WILL LEARN...
sometime...

ADDENDUM:
Years ago,
when I was an innocent youth still
I thought for sure that
nothing was worse than
loneliness!
Peer pressure, y'know...
One song helped me cope
when I had no date
no marital prospects
nor ambition...

It was song no. 20 -
by Journey!
:)

Personal Favorites Series: Lee Remick

2007-08-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Did cancer ever reap away a grandest lady - a more angelic one than Lee Remick? Most probably, yes. Lee Remick remains however the better-known angelic lady to have been so prematurely nixed by that most cruel of killer diseases.
And no one - not Reese Witherspoon, not Renee Zellweger, not anyone in Tinseltown today - has ever come close to replacing Lee Remick's candor and class.
Certainly not Julia Stiles (...)

Personal Favorites Series: Diana Rigg

2007-08-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Oliver Reed
Philippe Noiret
- these gentlemen will never be replaced!

And the divine Diana Rigg
- either as the splendid Emma Peel
or as a near Mary Poppins-like
damsel in distress
as she was in The Assassination Bureau -
she remains the indomitable
epitomized English Lady
thankfully immortalized in OHMSS, T.A.B.
and in THE AVENGERS...

1969-1978...

2007-07-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

...

Oops - wrong inspector!

A so-called friend of mine was arguing with me the other day that ALL DePatie-Freleng cartoons centered on one character and one character alone (almost) - the Pink Panther and no one else!
The Inspector - the funniest of the two headliners in the defunct company - ''did not count'' as he was, after all, nothing but a cartoony version of Peter Sellers and had to be discarded as somewhat ''derivative''...

Ugh - this is definitely another case of mistaken identity on the inspector I.D.ing kind - although he is French and all...

HA! WRONG, O, FRIEND OF MINE! OH-SO-WRONG!
The Inspector was a zillion times funnier than his live action counterpart!
I don't merely claim it - I can prove that, on numerous occasions, the cartoony Inspector actually more showed a whole lot more comedic flair than his flesh-and-blood counterpart!
But that is another story, really...
The main gripe and point of discord here was ''were there more characters''
- and the answer to that is "sure there were" yes! They are all forgotten, I guess (even I could only remember the Blue Aardvark -get it, blue to clash with pink?- and faintly recall one of two others...)
But I knew there were more!
Et les voici... And here they are:

Co-stars of the Pink Panther

* The Inspector (Theatrical, 1965-1969)
* Roland and Rattfink (Theatrical, 1968-1971)
* The Ant and the Aardvark (Theatrical, 1969-1971)
* Tijuana Toads (Theatrical, 1969-1972)
* The Blue Racer (Theatrical, 1972-1974)
* Hoot Kloot (Theatrical, 1973-1974)
* The Dogfather (Theatrical, 1974-1976)
* Misterjaw (Television, 1976)
* Crazylegs Crane (Television, 1978)

All of these were seen on TV, at one point or another - only, even combined, they had no exposure comparable to the Pink Panther character (hey - it sells insulation so well now! *lol* The Pink Panther has that certain "je ne sais quoi" - I suppose?!? No one would buy anything "endorsed" by any of those obscure characters, with the lone possible exceptiong being, once again, the Inspector! Then again, an elite few brand-new characters created from scratch for the very purpose of a publicity campaign generate some degree of following, so, anything is possible - just not probable, that's all!)

The truth is, though, that these obscure characters rivaled and matched up well with all the other gangs; the Looney Tunes, anything ever offered by Hanna-Barbera, the MGM gang of Tom, Jerry & the other critters - and even the Disney classics!

If no one else ever does it, I'd be interested in bringing back Misterjaw, the Blue Aardvark, that pesky Ant (I never liked Atom Ant...!) and even those Tijuana Toads! The latter were rapatriated at times and alternatively known then as the TEXAS TOADS...! The Dogfather seems like an amusing parody, though of the "one-note" variety it assuredly is... And "Crazylegs Crane" is surely as interesting as, say, Hanna-Barbera rejects (aka the usual gang of idiots) Squiddly Diddly, Peter Potamus, Quick Draw McGraw, Ricochet Rabbit, Secret Squirrel or Magilla Gorilla... no?!? But I digress...

Aardvark was Panther's Daffy Duck; the Inspector, his Yosemite Sam!
(In terms of odd unorthodox pairs, we could match them all up as follows: Pink Panther/Blue Aardvark = Yogi Bear/Wally Gator = Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck = Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck = Tom The Cat/ah, Droopy Dog? But enough of that already...!!)
Panther frequently made use of substitute beasts of burden though; generic goofs and brutish clods - while Bugs always had Sam or Elmer Fudd on stand-by; that is the only difference, really...
(Although I might add that Pink Panther is infinitely more likable than Bugs Bunny and even the inept Mickey Mouse! Likewise, the Inspector was always more sympatico than Yosemite Sam (who was always used as a heel of comical level) as well as any opposition that Mickey ever found -those were always presented as lowlives without scruples or any redeeming value whatsoever; such is the Disney unequivocal, unambiguous way- and toons such as Dastardly & Muttley to name but those two...! On a sidenote here, I always wanted to see who would outwit the rest if Pink Panther, Snagglepuss, Reddy (of Ruff & Reddy fame) and Lippy The Lion matched wits... Who is stronger, for that matter, too: Mighty Mouse, Atom Ant or Misterjaw? But I'm digressing here...)

The Inspector was a good guy trying to do his job; it was even more touching in the cartoon, if you ask me! His cartoony assistant, Sgt. Deux-Deux, was far more believable, strangely enough, than the live action film Asian manservant he had, played to the hilt (and way beyond any ''funnyness'' factor - he was just plain odd!) by Burt Kwouk...
Really - forgive me for saying so, Peter Sellers fans -
but the master comic was eclipsed in his own role by the cartoony version of his persona! (Certainly wasn't by Alan Arkin; much less Steve Martin! And Roberto Benigni, Ted Wass, Richard Mulligan, Roger Moore (!) and everybody else that TRIED to keep the franchise alive -with Blake Edwards' blessing- were only ''ok'' at best... Gotta applaud the effort -and ambition- though, n'est-ce pas? I think I just did!)

These cartoons had style as well as a true sense of comedic timing -not to mention an unique flavor all their own- and nothing done since (not even Shnookums & Meat, Sealab 2021, Ren & Stimpy, Futurama or Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law) can even begin to compare to the zany Inspector, in particular...
(Oui, oui - call this my nod to France's big holiday today! You know it; I love ze French! Si, si! Mais oui, mais ouiiii...!)

Some bonuses (as long as they are available...!)

''Pinkcome Tax'' time!
Courtesy of DePatie-Freleng and Art Davis - 1968

El Inspector - en espanõl!

A peek at the Aardvark -
as well as those substitutes I mentioned -
but from 1993...

...

French Tubes!

2007-06-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Before Mylène Farmer, there was Corinne... câline!

Un coup on passe, un coup on casse - ouais!

Et puis, il y eu aussi Stéphanie (non, pas l'Américaine ni celle de Monaco!)

And there was also... Blues Trottoir - un soir de pluie...!

Et puis il y a toujours Laurent Voulzy...!

1999

2007-06-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

1984-1999 ... Aww - WCW was so much fun!

2007-06-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

WCW4Life, baby!

Join here!

1989

2007-05-31T18:47:00.000-07:00

~~~

1986

2007-05-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

My favorite wild animal as a child:
the tiger.

My favorite toy:
a plastic tiger!

My favorite band later on, as a teen:
GLASS TIGER.

If the videos hang a bit (playing intermittently at best)
double click on any screen to be transported to YouTube
magically, in a new window,
and watch all the videos THERE instead...!
- The Saudades Blog's webmaster

2007-05-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Legion of Super Heroes: Ferro Lad Action Figure

Born with the extraordinary ability to transform his body into raw iron, Ferro Lad is not afraid to leap into dangerous situations. Often driven to take chances to save his teammates, this well-liked and courageous hero remains insecure about revealing the face behind the mask. The FERRO LAD ACTION FIGURE measures approximately 6" tall, features multiple points of articulation and is packaged in a 4-color blister pack.

Item is in stock and ready to ship.

Ferro - Zorro -
makes no difference to me!
The former is, in fact, a greater hero in my eyes than the latter! Ever since I read that LSH tale in which the original Ferro Lad made the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his friends, teammates and even denigrators from a near-invincible adversary, an entity called the "sun-eater"... I tell ya, folks...
FERRO is DA BOMB! *lol*
DC has since dissolved and diminished the impact of that tale, having Ferro return in the form of a clone (at least it wasn't the original one brought back to life, as it usually happens in those comic-bookies...)
STILL - Ferro remains the quintessential hero to me.
And a great lesson in altruism (as well as self-denial if not outright self-sacrifice) for all readers, ages 7 to 77, inclusively...!

1980

2007-05-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Wow - has it been 27 years already?
27 long years ago -
I was but a kid.
And here I discovered high adventure
and even the basics of romantic storytelling
in a comic-book starring
a brutish barbarian
and the most improbable co-star -
a pirate woman!
But the inimitable writing style of one
Roy Thomas
and the incomparable artistic talent
of one John Buscema
made it all feasible
plausible
and immensely enjoyable!
CONAN and BÉLIT
were the first true super-hero
"celebrity couple"
for me anyway!
I never gave a damn about
Lois & Clark
Peter & Mary-Jane
Reed & Sue
and I didn't even KNOW yet
the actual FIRST couple
of super-heroes:
Aquaman & Mera
A Royal couple, too!
Conan & Bélit were my first royal couple!
My King Arthur & Guinevere,
Tristan & Isolde,
maybe even Romeo & Juliet
of the Hyborian Age -
doomed from the very start...
No other couple -
not even Aquaman & Mera -
have come close
to the tragedy
of these two:
the barbarian
and his queen.

Roy Thomas combined elements from
various genres of literature
in an extra-long story arc
that had many believe that Bélit was
a PERMANENT addition to the Conan book...
But it could not be...
Marvel owned the license at the time
And they were sticking to "cannon" -
that means, at least in broad strokes,
sticking to what the creator of this character
had originally written about him...
Robert E. Howard's original tales
of this brusque barbarian
had no such saga in its middle portion...
And Conan,
like many other genre heroes,
was deemed "best" as a solo act;
a loner and a wanderer,
without any attachments.
Thomas and Buscema
prolonged the blissful
yet tumultuous and
adventurous moment
as long as they could -
but Conan and Bélit would part definitively
in a landmark issue #100.
At the end of that story arc,
itty bitty me felt sad
and yet, it felt right.
For such an ending
was more in tune with what real life is
really all about.
No happy endings here
- à la
"Angélique et le Rescator"
- no.
The idyllic coupling began at sea,
as Bélit sailed the High Seas
as their de facto queen -
a title she has in common with Mera...
And, years later, ironically,
Aquaman would be
branded as a sort of
"Conan of the Seven Seas"
to complete the analogy
linking the two most tragic
couples in all of
sequential art fiction...

And, as it is,
my four most favorite
characters
of all time
in the medium.

In a series that started in 1970 -practically as I was born- Conan met Bélit in issue #58... They would form a couple as well as a renowned and feared duo for many thrilling adventures - until issue #100, when it all ended abruptly. (Yes - Marvel had the appalling idea to "save this event" for the landmark 100th issue... In the span of 42 issues, the cover price had rose from 25 cents to 60 cents. It is past the 2 dollar mark nowadays. That's the "House of Ideas" for you...)
Cover art (shown above - or click on this link) was by John Buscema and Ernie Chan - the latter would create another tragic hero for rival DC during practically the same years (in 1975 to be exact) - a character that closely resembles Conan, named Claw The Unconquered, whose tragic fate was to have the hand of a demon grafted onto his right arm... Note the synchronicity that, in issue #36 of the classic Aquaman series, a villain named Claw appeared and was aptly defeated by the hero.
(There was also a villain named Magneto in that issue - he bit the dust too, as did a certain 'Torpedo Man' as well. All three villains were known as the "Awesome Threesome" though - since their names would go on to be worn by such greater characters,
I suppose...?)

Furthermore, Claw The Unconquered is now seen teaming up with an old accomplice of Conan's that reminds me much of Queen MERA - Red Sonja!
The new acolytes have been freed from their respective prisons (in Claw's case, it was DC limbo, pure and simple! In Sonja's case, like her former acolyte of fortune Conan, she used to be misused by Marvel in the seventies and eighties mostly) and now team up in a brand new home: Dynamite Entertainment. Although Claw remains as much a slave of his "devil hand" as of DC Comics Inc - DC (via its Wildstrom imprint) made all of this happen. And Red Sonja evokes her days fighting alongside a pre-Bélit Conan; proving once more that nostalgia always triumphs (and it is the purpose of this site too, to make it so!)

Aquaman and Mera are, truth be told, an improvement on the couple that Conan formed with his bodacious Bélit. A true couple too, as in legally married - unlike the pathetic Sub-Mariner and his illicit on-again, off-again affair with the very married Invisible Woman, Susan Storm (who surely wishes she was invisible now, I am sure...!)
And to think that so-called "comic-book experts" will take away from AQUAMAN & MERA their rightful place as the FIRST and FOREMOST married couple in all of comic-bookland - and give that title instead to Mr. Fantastic & his Invisible bride who CHEATS on him! The Fantastic Four have NOTHING on the Aqua Family; even the pesky Temp-pest would put out the Human Torch's fire within seconds and any old stand-by (such as the Liquidator or that 'Blowhole' whale of a man atrocity that Erik Larsen introduced) could be brought back to keep The Thing busy - long enough for Aquaman to find a way to neutralize him more effectively! As for Sub-Mariner himself - his lady Dorma was a pathetic cheap version of Mera. And then, she died (though in nothing comparable to the Bélit Saga) and 'Namor' wept oceans, allegedly... Up until he found another object to fancy, that is! However, his Marrina was even more pathetic - and was eventually slayed by his own hand!
There's simply not dream couple material there...

Aquaman The Barbarian Atlantean King - he owed his new look to Conan but also to Kull The Conqueror (his ancestor, in a way) the Russell Crowe Gladiator and probably to Viking lore as well...

I am glad Marvel no longer owns the license rights to Conan!

2007-05-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Finally - a Four Horsemen DVD

See the preview here

Whoooooooooo!

Diamonds are forever
and so are the Four Horsemen!

2007-05-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

No telling me that Atlantis
is in the Bahamas
or near Cuba
around the Florida Keys
or in the Aegean Sea...
Nope, folks -
Atlantis is in the Açores!
Yup.
I know best!
;)

V-E Day

2007-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

This Day in History - May 8th
Starring - V-E Day

The LikeTelevision™ History channel proudly presents, This Day in History - May 8! On May 8, 1945 - The fighting of World War II ends in Europe as a total cease fire is declared. This day is cited as V-E Day - for victory in Europe. While the war wouldn't fully end for several months (with the surrender of Japan after dropping 2 atomic bombs) - it was a great day of celebration around the world.

May 8th, 1945 - A ceasefire is declared for Europe -
Also known as V-E Day

Visit LikeTelevision

This Day in Hollywood - May 8th
Starring - Candice Bergen, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy

The LikeTelevision History channel proudly presents, This Day in Hollywood - May 8th! On May 8, 1946 - Candice Bergen (Candice Patricia Bergen) was born in Los Angeles, CA. Daughter of famed vaudeville ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen, who created Charlie McCarthy.

Visit LikeTelevision
May 8th, 1946:
Charlie McCarthy gets a little sister!

Twisted History Revised And Realigned Now:

MAY 8TH:

Happy V-E Day! (That's for Victory in Europe, 1945.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUMINOUS LUCIANO! (A Victory for Light Over Darkness right there - this birth!)

Three popes all end reigns today though — John II (535 C.E.), Boniface IV (615 C.E.), & Benedict II (685 C.E.).

1886: While trying to create headache remedy, Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton accidentally invents Coca-Cola.

1902: Martinique Island prisoner has last laugh when he becomes sole survivor of Mt. Pelee volcano eruption that kills 30,000.

1944: First eye bank opens, in New York.

1993: From the idiot-criminal files comes 16-year-old Keron Thomas, who hijacks a NYC subway train. (So, where, exactly, does he intend to hijack it to?)

Also On May 8th (courtesy of Bravenet.com):

1541 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River.

1879 - George Selden of Rochester, N.Y., filed for the first patent for an automobile. It was granted in 1895.

1945 - U.S. President Harry Truman officially declared V-E Day, the end of World War II in Europe.

1972 - U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the mining of North Vietnam ports in an effort to force the communists to end the Vietnam War.

1984 - The Soviet Union declared it would not take part in the Los Angeles Olympics, citing fears over security for its athletes.

1991 - To pressure the government of El Salvador into agreeing to a cease-fire, Salvadoran leftist guerillas sabotaged a power system, leaving the country with half its normal electrical supply.

1992 - The shuttle Endeavor blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first flight.

1996 - South Africa voted for a new constitution. Its bill of rights included the right to food, housing and education.

1998 - The tobacco industry reached a settlement with Minnesota and with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The deal came as the first trial of a state lawsuit against cigarette makers was about to go to the jury.

2002 Following up on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Senate committee that the FBI had paid insufficient heed to a July memo from an agent who had warned about Arab men with possible terrorist ties taking flying lessons.

2002 - Cardinal Bernard Law of the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese said he had known in 1984 about sexual abuse charges against a former priest but had turned the matter over to aides and never followed up. The former priest, John Geoghan, was accused in 86 sexual abuse cases.

2003 - More than 100 people were reported killed when the main cargo door of a cargo jet suddenly opened at a height of 33,000 feet over the Congo and sucked passengers out of the plane.

2003 - A tornado struck the Oklahoma City area, injuring at least 118 people and leveling hundreds of buildings and homes.

2004 - The body of Nick Berg, a U.S. businessman imprisoned by Iraqi militants, was found near Baghdad. A videotape depicting his beheading was shown on the Internet three days later.

2005 - A U.S. marine task force raided outposts in western Iraq, killing an estimated 100 insurgents.

2005 - Commemorations across Europe marked the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in World War II.

Ahh - a special day indeed
I never knew I had so much in common with Candice!
And my day was what brought VICTORY too!
Well, it was Candice's day before it was mine, admittedly!
Still - I can take some responsibility for V-E Day, I am sure...
We all have our own personal days of infamy, our personal apocalypses and days of reckoning - surely we can all have our days of victory and triumph too!
For some of us, they are few and far in-between, that's all...
All the more savory when we get them!

Still - despite all these triumphs and pleasant memories
there are those for whom a May 8th on the calendar is synonymous with pain, tragedy, loss, grief, bereavement, mourning, sadness...
Like Stacey whose world fell apart last year too
when she lost her William on May the 8th.
And there have surely been countless more losses
on this day, throughout history...

That, my friends (and foes) is what Saudades* is all about...

* nostalgia... longing...

1980

2007-05-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

I admit it:
It took me that long to discover that ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE was the greatest James Bond film ever made (in great part due to the absence of either Sean Connery or Roger Moore - but also because of the simply stupendous title sequence by master Maurice Binder (the best such sequence ever made), the awesome action sequences, their realism, the stunning soundtrack by John Barry, the masterful directorial debut of one Peter Hunt, the better use of the locales chosen to shoot in, the flair and panache that dastardingly captures the true essence of the Ian Fleming beast throughout this film and, of course, the casting of Diana Rigg as the first and only Mrs. Bond!)
It took me quite long to give the film a chance, alas; prior to 1980, I had considered this to be a film "that didn't count" - it wasn't "the real Bond", just an impostor! The real Bond was, to me, The Saint! Roger Moore - in other words, Lord Brett Sinclair, Simon Templar and James Bond were all one and the same to me! Sean Connery was himself a mere replacement in my mind - so what did George Lazenby hope to be rated as, when young filmgoers such as me had this kind of "backwards logical thinking" going - eh?

The pleasant surprise that "OHMSS" is born in the luminous year of 1969 was a factor, I cannot deny it (plus, one of the locations it was shot in was Portugal - wow!) - but the film itself, in my more mature eyes, proved to be far superior on all technical levels that matter - once I finally gave it a chance, sat down and saw it, in 1980!
I was stunned - this was waaaaaaaaay better than any Connery conk out on celluloid or any Moore merriment caught on film...! (And please spare me any Dalton or Brosnan talk - and that other guy now...! The preceding was a little *clin d'oeil* to the pre-credits in-joke Lazenby so cleverly delivers in this one...! ;)
THIS, my friends, is the true James Bond!

And DIANA RIGG is the ultimate Bond Girl - no question about it!
Most fully-capable critics will agree with me on that too!

Many kudos and thanks to the Propellerheads for ressuscitating that unforgettable and unmistakenably unique theme music concocted for Bond exclusively for this film
(the finer music, the meticulous approach to every detail, both in scriptwriting, cinematography and plain plausibility - it was all attributable to the casting of a neophyte 007 in this one! It was the nicest side-effect of all, in the end: in over-compensating for their apparent weakness -their leading man- the 007 team made this the best Bond film of all! More stills from it can be seen here.)

Enjoy the official trailer for this classic timeless film
- while it is available, that is...!

Un Jour On Se Rencontrera...

2007-05-01T15:41:00.001-07:00

Oui - bien sûr! Probablement dans la boutique de mobilier ARCA...
C'est là que cela a bien failli se produire, il y a des années...!
Et alors - tu autographieras ma copie de 'La Valise En Carton' - hein? ;)
Et puis quoi d'autre encore? *lol*
On se fera la bise?
Et après - ADEUS... PARA SEMPRE!
Parce qu'un simple admirateur ne fraternise jamais plus longtemps que cela avec une vedette - ça dure encore MOINS de temps que les fameuses 15 minutes mythiques de la célébrité des temps modernes, alors...!
Mais on se dirige inéluctablement ici vers une autre de mes richissimes de nuances et de (manque de) subtilité "DIGRESSIONS"...
Autant m'arrêter, ah, "while I'm ahead"...!

Mais je me dois d'applaudir ici, une seconde au moins,
la grande Linda de Suza
qui prouve qu'il y a bel et bien des Sousas
dignes, BONS et talentueux
(je n'en connaissais qu'une seule, personnellement -
Shout out to you, Sandee! ;)
En plus, son fils unique, elle le nomma João
comme je le ferais, si j'avais un fils maintenant
C'est certes signe que cette grande dame
a, en effet, de l'intuition et
de la perspicacité - à en revendre!
C'est bien plus que je ne saurais dire
au sujet de ses congénères Français
et compatriotes Portugais aussi...
Portugueses e Portuguesas
que não são amigos ums dos outros!
But that's another story too...
Infelizmente!
(Check out the comments section for more on THAT...!)

Je vous laisse cette fois avec le seul vidéo-clip
d'un des classiques de Linda de Suza
que j'ai pu trouvé!

Bon, ce n'est pas Un Jour On Se Rencontrera
Mais c'est *the next best thing*...!

(Remarquez la triste fin du pauvre "manhão" par contre...
Sa course effrénée a une fin... Tragique. :(
Mais n'ayez crainte: ce n'est pas le vidéo officiel!)

Sissi

2007-04-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

My mother's favorite actress - favorite saga & series of films - favorite character overall, almost; Princess Sissi.
R.I.P. Elizabeth de Bavière
R.I.P. Romy Schneider

2007-04-08T16:12:00.001-07:00

I miss those carefree days
eating chocolate
finding bunnies, ducklings and chicks so cute
imagining that all creatures on God's green Earth,
great or small, were as cuddly or innocent...
Yes - those were the good old days
I was a child and didn't know any better

...

2007-04-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Feliz Pascoa para João Jacinto Borges Pimentel

da tua esposa Maria Adelina

e filho Luciano