domingo, abril 29, 2007

"The Book Thief"




Acabei de ler este livro no fim-de-semana passado. Adorei e li-o de um trago (bem, alguns tragos correspondentes a uns 3 fim-de-semana, altura em que tenho mais tempo para leituras) como já há algum tempo não fazia com nenhum livro. Talvez como costumo fazer com os Harry Potters (não, não torçam o nariz, e sim, gosto muito dos Harry Potters! ;)) e com os quais se calhar tem algumas coisas em comum, a começar pela classificação para leitores mais jovens, mas que acabam por ser mais adultos que os lêem...:);) Aliás, acho essas classificações um bocado estranhas, mas enfim... O que me levou a pegar no livro e comprar, foi ler que o narrador era outro que não a Morte, o que achei no mínimo original e que leva a que o livro comece da seguinte forma: “Here is a small fact: You are going to die”.
A história passa-se na Alemanha nazi, sob a perspectiva de uma rapariga de 9 anos (que vai crescendo ao longo desses anos da II Grande Guerra) e ao que me constou basear-se-á na vida da avó do autor, o que a torna ainda mais interessante... Assim, não se assustem com o número de págs. (584), porque efectivamente se lê muito bem, e muito menos com o narrador, que às vezes põe mesmo as coisas na perspectiva certa... e mais não digo ;)☺

sexta-feira, abril 20, 2007

Um novo fôlego

Após bastantes reparos de alguns (muito poucos) leitores do meu blogue :)), de que o mesmo deveria ser em Português e que eu renegava a língua de Camões :), dou início a uma nova etapa da vida do Quichas, desta feita em Português! ;):)

domingo, abril 08, 2007

A new responsability.....


My Godson was born!!! :)))

segunda-feira, março 19, 2007

Car fixed and busy week

Last week was really busy; between getting the car fixed, and giving a seminar... Both things turned out fine, though I always get a bit nervous with these "public speeches", specially because I was the first one of the group to be giving this kind of seminars... Anyway, no hole in the car door and a nice new radio (it really makes a difference the "company" of the radio in the drives home) really cheered me up ;)
By the way, I went to the preview of "The Fountain" and personally I don't advise it... Too "zen" for me ;):)

terça-feira, março 06, 2007

No radio and a nice hole in the car door

Yeah, as you might have guessed by now, yesterday when I left the lab, I had that nice surprise expecting me... My car had a small hole on the right door and no radio... And this was in the Institutes's private parking... What a great way to end the day in a police station reporting the robbery... :(:(

quarta-feira, fevereiro 28, 2007

Guess...


Guess where I took this (I assume, not very good picture, but it was with my cell phone)....

segunda-feira, fevereiro 26, 2007

Success!

I've internet at home with my new Mac...! :):)

terça-feira, fevereiro 20, 2007

New computer, bad internet providers, result: disaster!

I finally have my beautiful new black Macbook! Everything is great, except when I tried to configure my home Internet, not only it didn't work, but when I called my Adsl provider (Sapo, by the way), they informed me that this USB modem is incompatible with these new Intel Mac's.... And that I have to buy a new modem.... We'll see about that...

domingo, janeiro 21, 2007

Summary of the first weeks of 2007

I've been having less and less time (and I assume, I've been more and more lazy :)) to post with some frequency in my blog, but between lots of work, courses, a bit of time with family and friends and simply rest (I've been falling asleep in the couch which is not a good sign, believe me...;)) there's not much left to "blog"... So, I'll just say that I'm waiting for my new computer to arrive (hurray, I'm going to own a black MacBook :)) and that I don't recommend any of my possible readers to go and watch Apocalypto... Let's just say that I think that Mel Gibson is drinking more that he should ;):)

sábado, dezembro 23, 2006

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas and a 2007 full of fulfillment and health to all!

quarta-feira, dezembro 13, 2006

Movies



Work hasn't been allowing me much time to dedicate to the blog or basically, to anything else :), but this weekend I managed to watch these 2 movies thanks to my friends, who don't give up in try to provide me some kind of social life :)))

So, "Manuale d'Amore" is a really sweat and funny movie good for these winter days/nights to cheer up; "Borat".... What to say about Borat? I really enjoyed it, although there are a couple of dispensable scenes (the nude wrestling is one of them, if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about :);)); definitely it's the US that comes out with not a very positive image... The worse thing is that most of the things are really like that.... So, go and see for yourself ;):)

segunda-feira, novembro 06, 2006

Chico Buarque



Yesterday, a bit unexpectedly, I went to this concert to fill in for a friend that couldn’t go. Bad luck for her, but a great concert for me! :)) Though I don't know that well Chico Buarque's music, the concert was really fantastic, and if you ever have the opportunity, don't miss it! There's an extra concert this Wednesday by the way! ;):)

segunda-feira, outubro 16, 2006

Happy Birthday to me!




Thanks so much Ed!

sexta-feira, outubro 06, 2006

Movie



I saw this movie yesterday, but to be completely honest, I still can't tell for sure if I like it. So, I'll tell you the basics: good performances by the actors, though the plot sometimes gets a little bit confusing. It's a dark, violent, kind of B series movie, but it's a Brian de Palma movie, right? So, bottom line, if you're somewhat a fan of this type of movies, I strongly recommend. And for the male audience, if you're a Scarlett Johansson fan, of course ;)

terça-feira, setembro 26, 2006

Edinburgh


Last week was basically spent in the International Dendritic Cell Conference in Edinburgh. It was quite intensive, but it was great to know "who's who in the field" and learn new things. We didn't have much time to explore the city (though Edinburgh is a small city), but of what I saw, I really like it and the Castle is beautiful.

segunda-feira, agosto 28, 2006

The return


I've returned a week ago, but I must say that I'm missing the holidays already ;):) The two weeks were great, lots of rest, swimming, eating nice things and spend time with friends that I didn't see for a while. The problem was in the return.... I had a broken fridge waiting for me and the smell and the bugs were quite beyond description... Anyway, apart from that, work is going well and I’m really looking forward to going to Edinburgh for a meeting in a couple of weeks.
Just for you to see how happy I look during vacation here’s a picture of me sitting in a megalithic monument. Cheers to vacations! ;):)

sexta-feira, agosto 04, 2006

Holidays!

Starting tomorrow, and for 2 weeks, I'll be on holidays! Hurrrraaaaayyyy! :)));)

quarta-feira, agosto 02, 2006

Movies for the Summer




In the last couple of weeks, I saw these two movies. The "Pirates" is really funny, and obviously Johnny Depp is at his best! The only thing is that basically we have to wait for the third movie to see how it ends... ;):))
For the more romantic ones, you have the "Lake House"; even if you're not that romantic, just for the house it's worth it! ;):)

sexta-feira, julho 28, 2006

Buzz




Last weekend my friends introduced me to Buzz, a playstation game which works like a Trivial Pursuit but specifically for music. We had a great time, specially making fun of the remarks of the Portuguese host of the "show" (for the ones that are Portuguese is Jorge Gabriel) every time you fail to answer the question. Our favorite is: "Querias batatinhas, nao?" :))))
But if you have the opportunity, try it, it's really fun and you'll spend a great time with your friends.

terça-feira, julho 11, 2006

The end

And the world championship ended with a victory by Italy. So, we had our little revenge from France and the only thing I regret is that this way I didn't win the bets here in the Institute. But I got really close... Second place... ;) Better luck for me and for Portugal next time :):))