Wohoo! Going Bitesize reached 50 posts!
This begs for a dance.
(Illustration: Calvin and Hobbes’ dance, by Bill Watterson.)
#51: 50 posts!
#42: Old school spaceships on Strauss
Efficiency is a good thing and I want to start 2013 on par. New year concerts are a tradition and I find that a couple of hours of Strauss are a very refreshing kick start.
Which reminds me of one of my favorite movie scenes: the starship docking at Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 space station. The sequence reads like a dance, an open evocation of the elegance of a waltz when portraying outer space flight. The Blue Danube matches perfectly the script and helps filling in the gaps of the action, adding substance and depth.
I am always taken aback by the powerful simplicity of this combination. It speaks of people working in utopias that eventually become true regardless of the existing obstacles and, thus, reminds me not to forget to dream and hope for a better tomorrow.
So, allow me to share a superb scene AND start the new year with a good mojo. Now that’s efficiency…
Enjoy spaceships on Strauss and have a great 2013!
(Thanks danielclee1 @ Youtube for cutting the entire sequence.)
Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey & Johann Strauss – The Blue Danube
#39: Back Down South
Os Kings of Leon regressam à sua comunidade natal, vindos do mundo lá de fora e confrontados com as desventuras das suas origens.
A canção e, sobretudo, o clip transmitem uma sensação de quase felicidade por regressar aquilo a que chamam casa (embora as tournés, a fuga ao puritanismo da sua educação e os excessos subsequentes os tenham apartado durante anos). É impossível dissociar Back Down South de Tahilina Skies, o documentário biográfico da banda e seus protagonistas. Talvez façam as pazes com preconceitos e ditâmes locais e familiares, talvez neles reconheçam a inevitabilidade das suas raízes.
Fica a mestria na definição de música cheia de vontade de viver, por vezes flâneuse, mas sempre directa ao cérebro. E uma música cheia de calor e uma alegoria das coisas simples, como uma voz sobre uma guitarra ou um bando de amigos a tocar.
Kings of Leon – Back Down South
#38: That kind of bike
Did I mention I am REALLY into bikes?
.
Not quite the insanely fast ones – although it’s pretty cool to see them swooshing and roaring on track
not quite the brutally powerful ones – although I can see the the appeal in dusting off with a simple twist of your wrist
not quite the boldly flashy ones – although they are definitely head turners.
.
I like the ones with some personality
those stubborn italian sport bikes that pump adrenaline into your blood
those classy café racers that pull some speed
those cool scooters that slow you to bliss.
.
On a windy road on the mountain
that ends on the beach
salty breeze slightly too chilly
and the kite surfers riding the waves, like puppets on the choppy ocean.
.
Or along the golden seas of wheat
southbound
everlasting strips of tarmac
where you can almost close your eyes
and forget about the buzzing Mercs
that will definitely get there 20′ earlier.
.
They have this kind of charm
(café racer is a truly eloquent designation)
like if they could wear a tweed suit jacket on blue jeans
a nice book over a latte
then casually zoom away
and not be afraid of being themselves.
.
THAT kind of bikes.
.
Found this wonderful Honda CB 350 tweaked by the Tarantulas, and they say she’s called Smooth Criminal. It’s no street racer, but kinda has that cool you’d look for.
These guys have made an outstanding job. Take a look at what they’ve been up to. Say, wonder if there is a spare one…
#35: Mobile phones, part 3 – Phone nostalgia
Must confess my love for a specific phone… from ten years ago: the Ericsson t28.
Don’t get me wrong, I looooove today’s touch-screeen 3-and-a-half-inchers, being able to check e-mail anywhere, all the shiny apps and finally – despite manufacturers’ claims for so long – comfortably surfing the web on the go. But for a long time, this model was my reference for feeling at home… with a phone.
It was classy, clean, slim and it performed flawlessly. Even after the day I slipped and fell on my back, the t28 in my back pocket to smoothen the pain.
(Phone) life was so simple back then. You made CALLS when you wanted to to TALK and you TEXTED with your buddies. It provided a sense of simplicity and efficiency I believe has been lost with subsequent models. And the cherry on top of the cake was the flap trigger that made the phone call feel so sofisticated.
It eventually deceased of some sort of internal phone gooeyness, after years of brave service and will be fondly remembered as a classy veteran. I loved my Ericsson…
A very cool – in a Hong Kongish charming way – promo clip is still around and it oozes that laid back albeit efficient albeit existentialist groove the phone magnetically pulsed into your brain. Through your ears, I guess.
I have recently found out some shadowy Chinese suppliers still ship vintage phones. Usually, phones are Frankensteined from various working parts or, more rarely, belong to unattended batches that are, therefore, in mint condition. And this got me thinking about getting a t28 again.
With all the tech going nowadays, how have phones failed to captivate us so intensely? I know there’s plenty of us out there that feel the same way.
Do you have a favorite brick? What’s your story?
Sony Ericsson t28 cool commercial
#31: My day has officially been pumped up
It’s been a while since a band has been able to combine pop with clubby beats in such a clean and original production.
Foster the People are better at creating atmospheres deriving from patterns, rhythms and riffs than writing ballads. And that’s why we like them. You don’t listen to FTP to relax, you do it to feel alive (or if you don’t feel like an espresso, but need the kick). Despite all this, all their tracks are superbly produced and thoroughly populated with simple albeit classy details. The result is thrilling high quality pop at high speed. You know, the kind that makes your blood tingle with little sparks of energy…
One can’t help but wonder how their tunes would sound on stage, which is precisely where I suggest you meet them. Pumped Up Kicks is highly contagious – 89 million infected and counting.
One track and my day seems easier.
Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks
Going Bite-size 