Sunday, June 10, 2007

Cuidado, ahi viene Hamilton!

F1 and me
I love Formula One and I've been watching it since I was little. In fact, when Ayrton Senna started his F1 career with Toleman in 1984 I was 12 years old, and I still remember Monaco: he started 19th and finished 2nd.
As all Brazilians I loved him and his sportsmanship: he was a real gentleman, a great ambassador for Brazil and Formula One, a real professional and a humble, honest man. He was to F1 what Pele is (yes, still is) to football. I don't really need or want to talk about his tragic death 10 years later in Imola.

Despite having been following F1 on and off for about 14 years, I've never been an expert and never really wanted or meant to be or become one: I just love the cars, the sportsmanship, the thrill, the speed, the engineering, the team work, the circuits, the build-up, the men, the crowds. It's all beautiful, there are no fights, just respect and it's all about sport and professionalism.

I'll never forget seeing it live for the first time: Silverstone, 2000. My husband couldn't have chosen a more perfect place to pop the question. He really knows me well.

Canadian GP

I'm THRILLED to see Hamilton on the podium again, 1st place, the place he deserves to be. He's a champ. He's got it written all over him and I really hope he becomes World Champion.

On the other hand, I am also happy to see Fernando Alonso lose. Honestly, I've lost all respect for him.

On top of being sick of seeing his face absolutely everywhere selling everything from cars and watches to bank loans, he has lately proven to be nothing but a spoilt child, a bad loser, a whinging mummy's boy. How sad for a race driver who has been world champion twice.

A quick glance at the latest news shows nothing but lack of professionalism: Alonso says McLaren favour Hamilton and Alons criticises his own team, and that Hamilton was 'lucky' to win a rather chaotic race -when he himself repeated the same mistake about four times, among other things.

I can't stand bad losers, and the fact that here in Asturias Spaniards who had never even heard of or followed F1 until their compatriot actually became World Champion see themselves as 'experts' and get all worked up when somebody mentions 'McLaren' or 'Hamilton' makes it even worse.
It's quite unbearable to watch the Grand Prix listening to Spanish commentators. Just like Alonso, they are nothing but amateurs.

It seems that there is no Formula One in Spain, only Alonso.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Unconditional love

Nina is my baby.
When I'm feeling tired, lonely, sad and stressed out, we have a cuddle.
Then we play-fight, run, go for a walk in the park, play ball.

And I feel good again.

Ai que saudade que dá!

Eu tenho saudade

de andar de bicileta descalça, pisar na grama, mexer com plantas, abrir a janela de manhã e deixar o dia entrar, comer jaboticaba no pé, andar na chuva, ir ao clube, ao cinema, ao shopping e festas de criança.

de comer doce de leite, maracujá, sorvete de milho verde, abacate na casca amassado com limão e um pouquinho de açúcar, pão de padaria quentinho, pão de queijo, requeijão, sanduiche do Gordão, Sonho de Valsa, pipoca com Guaraná.

de ver o pôr do sol na montanha fumando um baseado

de escutar música Brasileira

Tô morrendo de saudade dos meus sobrinhos, da minha família toda, dos meus amigos

Quero ir prá casa, mas….

… ai ai ai que medo que dá!

God is GREAT


Okay, I'm not an ace at it (as most women's, my spacial awareness is crap) but ever since I bought God of War II I have been spending more time than I would like to on my PS2.
It's great, really. I had got into other games before but not as much; I can actually PLAY this one. I mean, it's possible even for a mere woman like me.
What makes it such a fantastic game? Well, the graphics are amazing, the Greek Mythology background feeds my imagination -I was thrilled to fight the Medusa face to face, ride Pegasus and acquire Icarus' wings -even if that meant killing him. It's challenging, daring, addictive.

I admit it's a bit violent -there's blood everywhere and Kratos (in Greek Mythology, Cratos) is slaughter personified: a merciless, ruthless savage warrior -much more so than Ares ever was, but this makes the game even more exciting.

Even better, if I get stuck I can check the web for tips and cheats or ask my husband who is, obviously, quite a few hours and stages ahead of me -if he is patient enough.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Aequitas

Justice: the quality of being just or fair.
This week I got two petition e-mails collecting signatures. I normally delete them, as most do nothing but collect addresses so you can get bombarded with spam.

However, those two seemed genuine and I actually read them: one was, apparently, from Madeleine McCann's uncle asking for word to be passed on around Europe after her disappearance about a month ago; it has been all over the news.

The other shocked me more and more as I read through it: it described the child abuse situation in South Africa, and it spared no details.
As I tried to find out more about it -I was quite ignorant of its proportions, I found virtually nothing. I searched the BBC and the CNN websites, among others, and nada.

My internal alert of INJUSTICE sounded very loudly.

The differences

Madeleine MacCann is very pretty, has a good life, comes from a wealthy family.
The poor thing has been a victim of neglectful, reckless, careless parents who left her alone and unattended at home while enjoying some good Portuguese food and wine at a restaurant next door. I do not need to mention that the guilt they carry must be unbearable, and the disappearance of their gorgeous little girl must be punishment enough.
It has been all over the news: her parents go to Spain; her parents meet the Pope; children from Glasgow show support fro Madeleine; Madeleine reward rises, etc.

It's wonderful to see how people all over Europe are showing their support. My heart goes out to her, and I really hope the little princess is okay, bless her.

I don't know this little girl's name. All I know is that she's from South Africa, and that she is obviously sad and ill-fated. I don't know whether she has a family; her picture is not all over the news.
All I know is that in her country, 43 nameless children like her
are daily being raped, abused and killed. The statistics are frightening and the stories are truly horrific: only 95% of child rapists are convicted and the vast majority of them are repeat offenders. Yet, we are kept virtually ignorant of it all.
We do not show outrage, anger, support. The world turns a blind eye to it.

What could be done in SA with 2.5 million pounds to help these children?

We live in a sick, unfair world.