Dancing As One (DAO)

SOPA and PIPA... SUPER RIP-OFF!

2012-01-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

I don't support SOPA, I don't support PIPA. I can't stand the smoke signs and soup I only care in the winter. Would Mickey Mouse and Tom & Jerry survive that long if it wasn't that easy to hold a mouse and copycat?? Copyright is one thing, censoring our freedom of expression converting digital sharing in crime indiscriminately and undistinguishably should be forever banished. Just my two pennies over the issue.

11/11/11

2011-11-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Funny how the world became so small, and with all the easy access to communication people seem to have lost their ability to be in touch with one another and communicate well. How many times I've seen a lack of trust and the inability to express one's feelings. That's why I created a song with lyrics such as "I want to be somebody, not just anybody"

I see the importance people have in our lives and sometimes just by the lack of communication in a world filled with communication lines we can get tangled, wrapped up and lost in the myriads of selves. So it's not really a lack of communication but of a "communion action", not of deliberately giving information to one another as much as a miscommunication in all aspects. When was the last time we really looked into each other's eyes and openly spoke from our hearts, and I mean literally, sensing each other's rhythms, not just a chit-chat or talk about things in general, but a pounding and vigourous beat. We are way too busy with our lives, searching for things we don't really know what or why, just to keep busy and stay away from what really matters, which is to commune, not only talk but listen to others, to make someone feel special, for we are in fact all unique in this world. That's why this 11.11.11 I pray we may all connect in one heart and soul to dance as one, May our spirits soar high and our lives be as a beam of light where the whole planet may sing in one tune wishing upon the stars as dreams come to fruition with creations of an unimaginable beauty.

"One day on Earth,
a new rebirth,
sing with me
with harmony,
let's join together,
you and me,
let's make this world a big symphony!" (lyrics & song by Ana C.)

Hope you may live each day as one day on earth.
HAPPY 11-11-11, every ONE!:)

Halloween Special!

2011-10-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Trick or treat?

Create your own!Magical video editing by

#BAD11 FOOD (Poisoning)

2011-10-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

This year, as every year, I'm participating once again in Blog Action Day, always held on October 16, which today coincides with World Food Day. And for 2011 the theme is FOOD and why FOOD can be #BAD11 one of the most vital element to all living beings. And when food turns out to be bad for you. There are many reasons why you should intake what's essential for your survival. But here I will only name the facts why you should be careful before putting anything inside your system:

Pesticides and other hazardous chemicals (known as a fact to cause serious diseases, such as Cancer)

Validation Date Expired (take note on how many times you buy food and you forget to read the labels on the products you consume)
Combination of foods (that one, we often take for granted)
Canned food (Can I say a big no-no to many products with their package damaged?)
Sea food (only good when it's fresh. But too fresh, that meaning raw, and it's like poison)
Meat (not to wave the Veggie flag here, but shoudl I need to point out thats it's no good since it brings all the toxins and the adrenaline caused by the killing of the animals?)
And the last on my list, but not the least...
National Security Matter: When food is a means to terrorist attacks.
Food as terror threat, what a treat! (You didn't hear my intonation? Holy Cow!)
Not to alarm anyone, but I get to the conclusion that to play safe we should all start to have our own food cultivation with organic plantations.
Take a look at this little rat. He found a way to live healthy, free and all, big and small, thin and tall, all up and down in his own town:

This way we would not only guarantee the quality of our own food but also help millions of people around the world to get rid of starvation. Just imagine you have been invited to have dinner at your friend's house and you bring your own salad, and your friend invite you for a dessert prepared with fruits taken from her own garden. And make it multiplied by millions, if not billions of other people's home doing the same and having those precious menus. Deliciously delightful... Such an utopia! But as long as we have recycling to make we could always have food in our table as well. And don't forget: An Apple a Day (if not poisonned) makes you live a long way.
Bon Appetit!

Spring or Fall? Both for us all!

2011-09-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Acrostics and a little limerick:

Fair friends in the North Hemisphere,
A Happy Fall for all of you up there!!
Let's make the best of what nature brings.
Lovely leaves for you, for me I'll Spring!!;)

Blessed be, it's finally Spring!!
In joy and delight the birds sing,
Ravished upon the entire earth,
The new rebirth,
Helas, the joy it brings!

Ballet based upon the book "Sea Sons: Rhymes & Songs" Illustrated Book for charity. All donations will go to the children in need.

Time for a coffee break:"R U OK?"

2011-09-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

New studies say that a compound found on caffeine could help block cell growth and blood clotting, preventing not only heart disease but also Colon and Skin Cancer, and be effective in fighting other cancer tumors. A key biochemical process crucial to the functioning of an enzyme helps play a role in the survival and movement of cells.

Tv spot for the Brazilian Coffee Association.

Lyrics (translated by Ana C. Antunes):
"A good coffee, we can never forget
(here and there, now and then)
Drink a coffee and no sweat
It will happen!!"

The discovery of coffee on helping treating such diseases can become revolutionary. See, for example, cases, such as people who see themselves as more involved into relationships and cared for and are objectively well integrated in positive social groups who may feel well protected against episodes of major depression. The impact of low social support on risk for major depression are more pronounced in detriment of people who feel excluded from the “milieu”, as much as the sensation caused by the whole society of segregating certain types to their circle. As coffee makes no enemies, and it is as universal and as pleasant as any simple hobby, available to all age group, regardless of sex and race, it actually could graduate people to be more able to establish a "communion-active" feedback. So integration such as “would you mind joining me to a cup of coffee?” or “I will meet you at the coffee house” and even a small discipline figured as a five minutes chat at the coffee break, might add some significant time to your every day errands. But like all things, moderation is a must. As much as coffee makes you feel upbeat and stimulated, an overdoses such as more than two small cups a day, may not keep the doctors away... So next time someone asks you out to go drink a harmless small cup of coffee, you might as well accept it!!

Just one last note: The impact of this research on social behaviour is yet to be proved. So prove it by inviting a friend to a coffee today and ask, "Are you ok?"

Literacy For Peace

2011-09-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today's the International Literacy Day. And the main theme for this year is "Literacy for Peace". What does it mean? When we have better education, when we can read books and start to build opinions and discern between things we may allow ourselves for a better undestanding of our own acts and atittudes towards many things, especially concerning cultures, families, tensions between countries, between siblings, their problems and solutions. That's why Literacy for PEACE is hope for all around the world. Which book now that I'm glad I'm able to read and write? The book I just recently released on Amazon: "Out of the Blue" yes, literally speaking, for it was out of the blue that I wrote it, and it was all thanks for the first words I learned, of course, in my mother tongue, Portuguese.

I remember the first words I learned in English, my first Workbook when I was around seven in the American School I studied. The colour YELLOW, I love that word, and it was the first thing I remember I had to draw, then, the RED, the words pencil came later. Maybe that's when I decided to be an artist and author, I loved colouring that book, which I still keep after all those years.

Last year I had the pleasure to have donated more than a hundred books of mine (in various languages) to the local library at my birthplace city of Santos in Brazil. But the greatest pleasure of all for me it would be knowing that my books may serve to a lot of people, that many may read from them and learn the interesting things that my books provide too. For I have selected them with much care and throughtout my many travelings and it would be such a pity if they were kept in the shelves and never been picked up if no one can read. That's why I keep teaching people to read and learn at least the languages I know and I still have in mind to teach from my own books as well. Hopefully one day I may reach thousands if not millions of hearts all around the world. That keep being my dream and of utmost importance for me to accomplish.
Happy you may read me. Thanks!

Last year I was invited by the Blog Action Day to write about a very serious issue, water, and the consequences we will have to pay for it if or when there will be no more clean resources on Earth. That's when the story came "Out Of The Blue". I usually don't write in this genre (Sci-Fi) but when I do the pictures come into my mind so clearly as if it is a movie I am seeing, though I rarely know the end. It's an enigma for me. I always think I've got the story straight, that I have it all planned inside my head when, all of a sudden and out of the blue", here it comes an u-turn to change all the concepts and beliefs I had before.

It's a big mystery and surprise for me, really, how things turn out to be in the end, it's not I the author who is writing the story but it's the story that reveals itself for me. They say that Science Fiction is a good way to show the perspective of a reality that could pretty much come to fruition and it adverts or inverts us about things that can eventually happen. And that's so true. What would be of the world if not for the Sci-Fi authors, and I mean since the crazy adventures of Jules Vernes under the sea or out in the space, or even in the Amazon jungle, or the amazing discoveries of Mary Shelley's Doctor Frankenstein. Scientists do prove what the friction between reality and fiction comes from a thin fine line and some had already revealed them to be true.

A mixture of drama and comedy but that surprises by the honest approach. It makes you laugh and cry all at the same time, and how much I love to get that reaction from my fictions. What's your reaction when you read me? Do you keep quiet, in introspection or are you eager to say a word or two? And if so, why you restrain from saying those words? Why keeping quiet and shut and not shout out loud? The main reason may be that Peace come from a place within and the words are simply a gate between two worlds, a meaning which through we may pass knowledge and understanding, leading to a more Universal compassion and Truth.
HAPPY LITERACY DAY!

The Call (Guess Who's On The Line?)

2011-04-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

A teenage girl wakes up after a call over her cellular phone by a stranger. That person grabs her attention saying things that only she could know. So she keeps the whole day grabbed over the phone while she tries to keep people she loves out of trouble. And that's when she gets into a lot of trouble. All the twenty-four hour ordeal ends with a birthday surprise for her. Was that all a prank from a friend or was it all true? Who's calling her? Who's on the line? The story takes place in the streets of San Francisco. The main character, Jennifer, talks to a ghost... on her cell. In fact she doesn't really know who she's talking with, but she does believe in everything the ghost says. Spooky! But all that only reflects her inability to fit in anywhere in the world. Also she struggles with her parents divorcing. So she is also looking for a place she can call home only to find out her home is no where near she thought it would be.

I'm so thrilled how the script ended up to be that I published my screenplay with no doubt this will turn out to be a very good story to tell in the big screen. This is a very contemporary piece, I took a commom device (a cellular) to tell the story for it refers to all of us, on how someone manage to get things done when dealing with so many distractions nowadays. And that comes with an advice: Having ADD syndrome since I was a child, and hardly listenning to what teachers would say in class to then getting bad notes in the end of the month made me learn it in the hard way. Discipline, my friend, discipline. And a lot of good will!! After an hour or so, you will feel relieved to how much you've advanced. That's a great reward at the end of the day you know a little was accomplished. Baby Steps Work Wonders!!

The last ScriptFrenzy I worked on the adaptation of my NaNoWriMo "The Pierrot's Love", which was quite an interesting experience, actually. I tried to maintain the rhythm of the story while I kept the word count in balance with the pages from the original manuscript and I finished like a clock, right on time for a tea. But then it was not as fun as it was this year when I really grabbed a piece of nothingness, well, not really nothingness as much as a small tiny little idea I had in the back of my head to turn it into a script. That sort of no man's land and you not knowing where it will turn out to be next gave me such a thrill that I couldn't stop thinking of the story and what would come next. That kept me going all the way and I rather finished the 100 pages almost half of the time I took on my first script adventure. So, characters may change, views will definitely do the work, and the story would give you the jest as much as you allow it to flow. Hope you have a blast with my script... well, I did!

Can't wait to make this one as a feature movie...would love to see the faces of the audience holding on to their chairs with their hairs up only trying to figure out who's on the line!!

You can get a sneak peek with a preview in the link below:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-call-%28guess-whos-on-the-line%29/15523580?showPreview

Playing With Words...Literally!;)

2011-03-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

The Spider Game

Play Here!

Out Of The Blue

2011-02-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last year I was invited by the Blog Action Day to write about a very serious issue, water, and the consequences we will have to pay for it if or when there will be no more clean resources on Earth. That's when the story came "Out Of The Blue". I usually don't write in this genre (Sci-Fi) but when I do the pictures come into my mind so clearly as if it is a movie I am seeing, though I rarely know the end. It's an enigma for me. I always think I've got the story straight, that I have it all planned inside my head when, all of a sudden and out of the blue", here it comes an u-turn to change all the concepts and beliefs I had before.

It's a big mystery and surprise for me, really, how things turn out to be in the end, it's not I the author who is writing the story but it's the story that reveals itself for me. They say that Science Fiction is a good way to show the perspective of a reality that could pretty much come to fruition and it adverts or inverts us about things that can eventually happen. And that's so true. What would be of the world if not for the Sci-Fi authors, and I mean since the crazy adventures of Jules Vernes under the sea or out in the space, or even in the Amazon jungle, or the amazing discoveries of Mary Shelley's Doctor Frankenstein. Scientists do prove what the friction between reality and fiction comes from a thin fine line and some had already revealed them to be true. So here I am now contemplating another book that I just got in the mail: "Nice Guy Johnny" by Ed Burns and that's already resting (not for long) in my shelf and on line to be next ready to be read. And what does it have in common with my book? They are both dramedies, a genre on top now, a mixture of drama and comedy but that surprises by the honest approach. It makes you laugh and cry all at the same time, and how much I love to get that reaction from my fictions. I'm soon turning my book into a script and then to a movie. Here's the trailer to those who enjoys things artsy-fartsy:

Celebrating Life

2011-01-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

This morning my granny died at age 96. She was at the hospital and I made her promise me that she would be there (hopefully not at the hospital) to spend her 97th birthday with me in the beginning of this year. She first said yes, then she stopped and looked up saying, "It depends on the one who's up there...He's the only one who knows when our time is up!" She had such a peaceful smile, she was so lucid her whole life through. Portuguese-born, and very proud indeed of her roots, she chose though Brazil as her primary home, and she wouldn't change her life for nothing. A tremendous pianist and needlewoman (she made the most beautiful cloths and garments in crochet and tricot for my sister and I during our childhood), she just so lived her life so fully, and she did not only teach her sons and daughter piano lessons but most appropriately she chose to leave a legacy about love for we could see the reflection of all that affection on the way they treated her. Or she wouldn't have survived for that long, with not for the loving care they gave back to her. Such a celebration of life, she was still weaving and knitting and teaching. Her last pupil was my mother who just told me, "And I didn't show the towel I just finished for her." The afternoons I spent at her house, all the conversations we had about deep meanings, about life, about relationships, about love, ABOUT RESPECT. But most importantly it was when I held her hand at the hospital and kissed it for the first time that I could realize how much she meant to me and above all of the big lessons she taught without even saying a word. For it was in that moment that I saw that no matter what we do in our lives, in the end it is love that is basically left to us. What makes our life worth living are those cherishing moments, they stay forever, more than words, they are the actions, a simple gesture that is so meaningful and filled with symbolic healing. I write these words with my eyes half-covered in tears, for I know I'm more useful when I pour my emotions down with no restrain, while still able to discern what I am saying. She has always brought me a smile, and I will treasure the moments we spent together forever in my heart. Her sweet laughter and Portuguese accent, something that she never lost over the years, will remain in my memories, as much as her devoted soul. She was the one who stayed there with me all so vigilant and waiting patiently for my recovery when I was at the hospital on my sweet sixteen battling between life and death. Although she never mentioned that, her indeniable love and sacrifices towards me were so uplifting and moving that there were never enough words to describe what she meant to me. So we simply smiled at each other like two complacent souls.

I don't even need to mention what we so commonly wish for a soul who just departed! "Rest In Peace" or to write an anacronysm such as "RIP", for I know she's been resting in peace her whole life through by the way she lived in peace in spite of any turmoil that would rise around her. And I will take her forever with me, for she was the one carrying me around when I was the one who could not walk then. She showed me the way with gestures, not only words. And I'm the one following her steps in heavenly garments. I will always remember her sweetest laughter when on the phone each time I called her and by every year on her birthday, and her tender smile will be engraved in my heart for good.

I love you,
Granny!

Hopelessly devoted to you...

2010-11-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

What a sunday!! I got a show of nature with Swan singing in Symphony...

And then I got a live show-woman, the queen of Xanadu, nothing more nothing less than Olivia Newton John! I knew that she was in Chile. But to meet her, it was such a coincidence...well, I do not believe in coincidences, since I was thinking of her in the morning, about her awareness on Breast Cancer, imagining that someone in her family also died of cancer, who is actually true, her own father. And it was such a hot day, that after taking my dog to a walk in the park I screamed for an ice cream...And look who was there having brunch? So I waited for her, and when she left the place, I said, "Olivia!" "Yeah...", she answered to me, so casual yet with so much charisma and caring as if meeting a long lost friend. Then I asked her when or if she was coming to Brazil again for I wanted her to take another pic with my brother. All that she wanted it was to give water to my pet, saying, "See, she was thristy...it was all that she wanted..." And that because I had already given my Preta a bottle of water. Such a lucky dog, Pretty Preta, to drink from Olivia's bottle! Olivia has such a great energy and she's an inspiration to us all...She's indeed a living legend!!!!:)) So here I share this moment:

It's so amazing, just to think about my whole childhood spent listenning to all the vinyl albums with Olivia Newton-John's music that my brother collected, just to thirty years later have the same fate as my brother did of meeting her....and talking to her. That was priceless. Thank God and thanks to the Universe, for allowing the Law of Attraction and syncronicities to happen in such wonderful ways...
Here's the pic that my brother took with her when she was in Rio, to spending the Carnaval in Brazil (when she was thirty-two) and when I mentioned that she said, "Yeah, it was a long time ago!":)

BLOG ACTION DAY: Why "water" is a vital issue

2010-10-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

The UN declared access to clean water and sanitation as a human right on July, 28th of this year (a day before my b'day, by the way!:) o what does that mean?? It means an effort and most of all a commitment for all governments... well, not all as some countries abstained their votes, mostly from the developed countries which claim they don't want to pay for the underdeveloped countries' toilet. Now the question is, "If there is no safe water to drink anywhere, how is it possible for anyone to have clean water in their own home if the planet is one? Do I make sense here. So instead of abstaining of taking action with a matter that is vital to ALL of US, and I say US as the whole world, shouldn't it be worried and help EVERYONE to live in a blue planet free from pollution and diseases?? Remember that SWINE FLUE that attacked not only Mexico but the whole planet not long ago? Yes, that was thanks for a bad sanitation that could be avoided by simply having access to clean water.

Search of the Blue Lagoon from Ana Antunes on Vimeo.

So instead of turning our heads and saying "That's nothing to do with me" let's face the problem and see that, YES, that has everything to do with you, with me, with all of us living in this amazing planet, which can and will provide all the resources if we use it wisely.

Water Resource on Planet Earth from Ana Antunes on Vimeo.

So finally here are some tips we can start right now to act:
Ask your government to take action now but stopping polluting our rivers and ocean with oil spills and other chemical substances that just deteriorate our beautiful planet Earth.

Don't use hot water when cleaning your clothes. They are well clean with just cold and besides the colours from your cool T-shirts won't be washed away if you use soft cycles.

Use the same water you shower yourself by having a recipient big enough to control the amount of water that goes out to flush the toilet, cleaning your backyard, your floor with what is called greywater.

When brushing your teeth or cleaning the dishes, don't spare water. Just use it when the whole ensemble are well brushed and wash it with conscience.

Actually every move you make with consciousness is a blessing to the entire world.

Au fer et au feu/By Iron & by Fire

2010-05-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

"The Pierrot's Love" on Amazon

Synopsis:
The touching and compelling story of a ghost trying to be heard by a teenage girl who simply thinks she's a nutcase when she starts to hear the voice from the other side. Or would that be another fragment of her shattered soul? When she thinks she gets rid of what was haunting her it's when the ghost presents herself to be part of her own life, a life she had lost a longtime ago, only then she sees she was even more lost than the girl hovering over her mind. A mystery thriller with somewhat paranormal activity on the way, a mixture of Back to the Future and Ghostbuster but located in both Paris and London. A ballerina gets burnt and burst out when she looses her motion during a Ballet presentation in Paris of the late ninteenth century. She eventually dies and starts to haunt a girl from the twenty-first century who apparently has been receiving some eeriie text messages over her cellular phone. There is murder and suspense all over the plot. Apparently her boyfriend is involved. But he's a ghost. She then has to become a ghostwriter literally speaking to solve the case.

"Bloody Shoes"

Screenplay from an adaptation of the mystery/suspense novel "The Pierrot's Love"
by Ana Claudia Antunes

A Dance As One Production

SUPERIMPOSE: "FOUR YEARS EARLIER"

Sc 6 EXT. TRAIN STATION - EVENING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk

The sound of an organ eerily playing "Tocatta" from Bach. A man holding a wallet with labels from many travels gets out of the train. Talita eagerly waits for him. He holds her up, he's happy to see her, but mostly because now he can show her the invitation, proudly.

TALITA
(holding the small piece of paper with the words:
“"Cinématographe" au Salon indien du Grand Café à Paris.
And the address, “14 Boulevard de Cappucines 14”)

Her hands trembling shows in small letters the description of the event, as a regular show, “This instrument invented by Mr Auguste and Louis Lumiere allows one to record, by a series of instantaneous shots, all movements that for some time given occur in front of an objective lens (...) and reproducing those moves projecting them, in grand scale and in large size, in front of a big audience, their images on the screen!

"FOUR YEARS EARLIER"

The sound of an organ softly playing "Tocatta" by Bach.

TALITA
I gave up performing.

GIOVANNI
Don't you tell me it's still about that girl...

TALITA (V.O.)
Those flames burning the theater where she was dancing still insists on haunting me every night. Her wings burning in that fire and yet I became frozen, I couldn't move, I couldn't save my friend.

Images of a ballerina still dancing in the theatre while her costumes burst into flames.

TALITA (V.O.)
(crying)
I heard her screaming...I saw her asking for help, flapping her arms like a bird and disappearing before my eyes, turning into ashes. Some nights the nightmares are so strong and vivid that it's as if Emma is there beside me, looking at me in the middle of the room.

The ballerina now looks relieved with her wings like two spots she becomes transparent and turns into a white light of fire, as she disappears from the scene. A ghost appears touching TALITA's shoulder.

GIOVANNI
That was just a terrible accident.
You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened to her.

TALITA
(touching her shoulders and holding herself in an embrace)
“That was just an awful accident!” That's what they kept telling her too, but I felt horrible, for all she had to go through. She couldn't move her legs and her arms...oh, she couldn't even stretch them the way she used to. I also thought that this could be a second chance for her as well as for me and that I would make better than when I have done. But after all that happened I'm not so secure on my Ballet shoes anymore...

EMMA (V.O.)
Tata, Tata, heart of gold,
your story has to be told!

A noise like a tapping on the wood like someone knocking the windowpane, “Ra-ta-ta-rat-a-ta!”

TALITA
Now seriously, who's that??
It's not funny!! I cannot take this anymore.

The spectrum of Emma's soul hovering over her, caressing TALITA's hair and whispering to her ears as it seems that she cannot see her friend from the other side.

EMMA
Don't be afraid, death is not the end.
Listen, Tata, I'm here to help you!

The Pierrot's Love-A Play In a Play

2010-05-05T10:56:00.001-07:00

THE PIERROT'S LOVE
Screenplay by
Ana Claudia Antunes

Based upon the homonymous novel
© 2010 Dancing As One Productions

“Your soul is as a moonlit landscape fair,
Peopled with maskers delicate and dim,
That play on lutes and dance and have an air
Of being sad in their fantastic trim.

Then while they celebrate in minor strain
Triumphant love, effective enterprise,
They have an air of knowing all is vain,—
And through the quiet moonlight their songs rise,

The melancholy moonlight, sweet and lone,
That makes to dream the birds upon the tree,
And in their polished basins of white stone .
The fountains tall to sob with ecstasy.“
Paul Verlaine.

BLACK SCREEN

SUPER: A Dance As One Production

OVER BLACK

A continuous furious sound of frantic fingers typing over a computer's keyboard.

FADE IN

Sc 1 INT KITCHEN DAY Sc 1

A long-haired blond woman on her middle forties is seated on a wooden chair in front of the kitchen table typing on her netbook. On the screen we can see she's been searching over the net, browsing on Google the words, "All is Vanity":

ANNE'S MOTHER
Shoot! That's already taken.

CUT TO

The woman is now with her hands over her head, mumbling with her voluminous hair covering half of the computer screen.

ANNE'S MOTHER
Ah! All is Love...it's all about love.
It has always been about love. Love, Love, Love!!

In the screen the words "THE PIERROT'S LOVE" appear like a magic trick, dancing over the keyboard, or rather trembling, and reaching out to the screen as if superimposed into another image, the words give place then to a black and white scene.

OVER BLACK

A continuous sound of frantic fingers typing over a computer's keyboard. Each word appearing on the scene one by one:
CHAPTER I: A PLAY INSIDE A PLAY

SUPERIMPOSE: "PARIS 1899"

Sc 2 EXT. STREETS OF PARIS - NIGHT Sc 2

Dark, slippery sidewalks, wet streets. Seen through a ghostly appearance in a window's shop a shadow of a man approaching. A gas street lamp lightens up the ambiance where we can read the names of the two streets the man had just crossed, "Magnolias" and "Camelias". The man gets out of the shop with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He heads to the Vaudeville Theatre that's just across the street from the flower shop. But before he arrives to the theatre he enters into a Cafe instead. He looks up and reads the name of the coffee shop.

ANDREW
Cafe au Fleur, bien sur!

Sc 3 INT. CAFE - NIGHT Sc 3

ANDREW enters the small room leaving behind him a wet footprint mixed with the mud that had splashed over his shoes. His hat and coat drips water inside the coffee place as well. The owner looks at him with a grumpy face. Andrew sits in a chair and asks a waitress for a coffee, Andrew continues to drink his coffee frantically from the small cup, taking small sips with less than a second on each interval. He takes out his hat and puts it over the table, brushing the top with his fingers, without paying attention to the woman on the table beside him.

WOMAN
Oh, that' so rude!

The woman takes her bag up and points it to complain to the man that he had spilled water on her purse. Andrew finishes his coffee, taking a last sip from the white cup and sets the artifact made of Chinese porcelain over the small saucer. He then pours some coins over the table. He looks at the door and observes people walking on the street. He watches the clock every five seconds, like a nervous tic, he gets carried out with an anxiety that keeps growing as a hungry animal. He leaves the coffee house. He looks the place from the outdoor. We can see the sign in the tent over the cafe written in rococo words “Cafe Au Fleur”. He takes a deep breath in and smells the flowers and takes one of the roses from the bouquet that he nervously grab with too much more intensity than it seems necessary and puts the flower inside the front pocket from his coat.

Sc 4 INT. THEATRE - NIGHT Sc 4

“Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven is playing. The man opens the heavy door made of thick wood and enters the old building. There in the dressing room lies another flower on a canape. The man looks pale when he watches a young woman changing her clothes through the mirror. He remembers their first conversation, her voice comes to his mind like a whisper dressed in small gusts of wind.

THERESE (V.O.)
My love...

The voice gets stronger as he keeps reminding of old scenes.

THERESE
(distressed)
The world of actors...
She will not be part of it!

ANDREW
What if she wants to be an actress? What if?

THERESE (V.O.)
I don't think girls should worry about this.
Besides...I HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR HER.

Sounds of a train wagon rolling through its trails over the hard friction made of steel gets mixed with her strong statement as her voice increases in size and shape.

A pale apparition of a ghostly image reveals a woman seated in the canape, searching for a cigarette and crossing her legs as she tries to light it up.

THERESE
God forbid she will have to suffer like I did.
I grieve just by thinking about it-
(looking at an empty space over the wall separating ANDREW from the young woman getting dressed on the other room)
And hopefully she will find a nice decent man to look after her.

ANDREW lost in his own reverie and frozen in icy introspection, keeps still, looking back at her with glassy eyes.

Sc 5 INT. DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT Sc 5

A young lady with no more than her thirties, but looking much younger, shakes her hands in a frenzy motion, waving at him from behind the curtain, without showing her face.

TALITA
Alo, Andrew!

ANDREW
(Still talking to a phantom appearance of Therese)
But I guess I just have got into this bad habit of talking to myself, or rather talking at you, instead of to you. (He looks then to Talita trying to see who's behind the curtain) The same goes as if I were talking with your dead, I mean dear mother, that of course if she were still with us.

The girl opens the curtain, swooping it with a snap, curls the rope that holds part of the mantle elevated, caresses it between her fingers and takes the soft fabric around her hand leaving a knot hanging to reveal her voluptuous body. Holding the drape still she gives him a gentle smile and blinks her right eye.

TALITA
(giggling with a somewhat disturbing sound)
Mais, Andrew, elle n'est pas la, n'est-ce pas?
She's not with us anymore, or is she??
It's been such a long time...
(jumping to his arms and embracing him in a tender lace)
...since the last time I saw you!

ANDREW
(To himself)
She changes the subject as she changes her clothes...

TALITA
(dancing and turning in front of him)
I am so happy that you are here I could fly!
(stretching her arms wide, spinning around, her face against his) Merci!

ANDREW
(kissing her in the cheek and whispering into her ears)
How I hungered to taste those lips...

He kisses her into the lips, but TALITA's face changes to an older woman and he is now kissing the ghostly image of Therese.

A Ghost Writer

2010-03-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

What would you do if an artist from the other side eager to tell a story contacted you and asked you to be a ghost writer, literally speaking? That's how "The Pierrot's Love" took shape on a story night:

Adolphe Willette 1889's Pierrot tickles Columbine to death

"A Thriller Trailer"

"Author's Page on Amaon"

My Interview at BookBuzzr

2010-03-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

"My Interview at BookBuzzr"

"Author Interviews at BookBuzzr"
Here's a site that really gives a bust and makes wonders to authors and publishers while reaching out their hands to help writers in the often hard task of getting the attention to their books all with innovative marketing tools and other recommendations in general. I've started to use their widgets just a few months ago and they have featured me and my stories behind the books so many times that I lost the count already. And now they have invited me to get interviewed in their blogs. That's just bliss!! From a writing career with so little encouragement and a lot of work, that's indeed all that I have been asking for: some lovely buzz to keep up the good vibration. Love you guys at BookBuzzr. You are indeed the best! Special thanks to Ranga who was so kind to ask if I would do the interview. Would I?? Of course!! There: "My Interview at BookBuzzr"
Cheers,
Ana

P.S: Looking forward to giving more interviews, hopefully on Larry King Live at CNN...or maybe at Oprah?!;)

200 Years Modeling

2010-03-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to an exposition about Fashion that I´ve been trying to watch since the end of Carnaval. The exposition was first at the Guarany Theatre, but I wasn´t here yet. When I arrived in Santos I read in the newspaper that it went to the Coliseum. I went there the day after Carnaval but they had taken the models the day before. Then yesterday I heard in the news that they were at the Pinacoteca in Santos, the same place they made an hommage to the composer also born in Santos Gilberto Mendes (and you can read all about that event on my older post of one year ago here: "Guarany". So now I am thrilled I am able to share all that with you, since it was the last day of the exposition. After all, it's not every day that the French Fashion makes two hundred years of pure elegance. Hope you enjoy my "divertissement", I am behind the models, also reflected by the mirrors, as if I were waiting to model all the clothes as well. Strike a pose and swell!

You got to love that green velvet. And watch your steps: The Ants Wear Prairie!

Not sure if ants wear grass like a mantle!
But I guess now we should all use ANTLE:
Affordable Near-Term Low Emissions to reduce the CO2
(or no more green gowns for them to wear or for us too!)

And if the devil wears Prada, what does an ant wear? Pray is Prairie!! I guess it looks cuter in Portuguese: Se o Diabo veste Prada de que vai vestida a formiga? Prado!;)

HEAVEN ON EARTH

2010-01-12T05:57:00.001-08:00

There are only three days left... Please check out the entries I submitted for this contest:

The script "HEAVEN ON EARTH"| Your Big Break

The script "PARADISE"| Your Big Break

Big Break Spread the word and help me make my "PARADISE" a dream coming true!!

The script | Your Big Break

Green Christmas

2009-12-15T05:45:00.000-08:00

Here are 5 tips in limericks (made by me) on how to spend Christmas in accordance with the Christmas spirit:

Tip number 1- Light
You don't want your house to burn,
thus are some lessons to learn.
Use lights instead of candle,
but if you cannot handle
the lights may electrify you in turn.

Tip number 2- Recycle
Make your own surprises from recycle stuff.
Buying them elsewhere is also good enough.
If the weather shifts
and the gift stiffs,
you can always say that was made rough.

Here's a sample of my recycling stuff, collars made with the covers of magazines

Tip number 3- Go Natural
Choose to adorn with natural tree,
which will remain longer for thee.
Knock on wood,
don't cut the mood.
And the entire planet will agree.

Here's an example of a natural tree (a ficcus) turned into a Christmas tree by adorning it with other plants and recycle papers.

Tip number 4- Having some decor
Decorate your house with leaves and pine cones,
they make awesome ornaments all of your owns.
But if you don't have any,
you might as well get plenty
of candies and fruits and magical stones.

Tip number 5- Christmas Cards
Reuse or recycle your Christmas cards
and you will win many rewards.
Don't throw them away,
make a pile if you may,
just don't leave them hanging in the yard.

My puppy barks, "Bow wow, now I believe in Santa Claws!"

Or make your own Christmas Card. Be inventive, that's part of the fun:
> ____________ _______*
> ____________ ______ °I°
> ____________ _____°Wish°
> ____________ __°Merry XMas°
> ____________° Filled With Hope°
> ___________ °Love°Success°Joy°
> __________°Health° Feast°Employ°
> _________°Harmony° Respect°Light°
> ________°Happiness° Dance°Delight°
> ______°Solidarity° Providence° Humility°
> _____°Music°Inspiration°Wisdom°Purity°
> ____°Optimism° Luck$°Friendship° Felicity°
> ___°Balance° Forgiveness °Faith° Fraternity°
> __°Compassion° Strenght°Freedom° Dignity°
> _°Kindness°Patience° Benevolence° Sincerity°
> v°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°00&00°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°v
> ____________ ___*PEACE* _________ ______
> As the Root to Sustain the Tree of Our Lives
> ******AND A HAPPY WORLD DERIVES *******

Live the present you were given.
Embrace the world you live in.
Put a big smile over your face.
Do take all with lots of grace.
Hear the music until it's done.
Have some fun before it's gone.
☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★

(¯`v´¯)¤
.`•.¸.•´
¸.•´¸.•´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(`'·.Holiday¸.·'´)
(`'·.HUGFEST!¸.·'´)
¸.·*)*¸.·´¨)*´¨)¸.·*¨)
(¸.·(¸.·´ .·´¸¸.·´*´¨)
AND ((((( BRAZILIAN TROPICAL HUGS )))))

And all that just to wish you a refreshing, clean and clear "Merry Green Christmas"!

Your Big Break

2009-12-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

The script "PARADISE"| Your Big Break

Please check out the entry I submitted for this contest Big Break Spread the word and help me make my "PARADISE" a dream coming true!!

The script | Your Big Break

My Multimedia Books

2009-11-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

Picture Books with musical compositions to play and sing along:

Rata-ta-ta (version en español)

Sea-Sons(full version available as an e-book as well)

Toy-a-Day(full version available as an e-book as well)

Sing-a-Long(available as an e-book too!)

A Nano Writer

2009-11-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that I got two books (and another on the way) that you can read online and turn the pages like a real book. I got another book for children that will soon be featured on Amazon.

This year I decided to participate at the NANOWRIMO, for those not familiar with this nanostuff, that's a National Novel Writing Competition. If you are asking why would I enter in such a self-torture ordeal, I just have only one answer: It simply gives me the jest to know that we were so many doing the same insane thinking, and yet we keep writing on and on. It's interesting to see how many people got registered this year, numbers not always mean much, it is the old dilemma, quantity versus quality, but they don't lie either: there must mean something to have a lot to people feeling that they are up to something and that something must be finished in a month. Even if for that there would be any literal value. Just the fact to go and act, it's worth a million words. Hey, and if in the end you didn't write those crazy 50,000 words?? Who cares? You were the only one to blame for, and discipline is best learned by practicing it. Try it next year, or maybe you will never be a novelist of some never-to-be-a-novel deal, but I guarantee one hundred percent that if you at least wrote a page or two, and you can read that to yourself, you may find out things in you that are just priceless.

Here is the link to my soon-to-be novel at the NANOWRIMO site: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/562469

New Feature: Rat-a-Tat (Picture Book)

2009-11-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

Rat-a-Tat

Rat-a-Tat is a silly rat who just loves to eat healthy. On his search for the right food he finds out that there is much more to share than just sneaking around. After an exciting travel he returns to his home, sweet home, with a new foundation, and learning much more than he could ever expect.

Rat-a-Tat
(Choose Options "Fulscreen" then "Book" to turn the pages)

Crack-a-Book
It was the beginning of colonization and many were put into test. And some were persecuted for their own beliefs. Two brave women stood for their own right with somewhat tragic consequences. A bilingual story told with rhymes and illustrations to show how discrimination, misundertanding and even cowardice played a big part in the intolerance of many to a few who faced opposition and persecution.

Green Halloween

2009-10-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Tips and Tricks

Get NUTS for Halloween

A healthy alternative this Halloween, instead of candies, get nuts!!
Spread seeds of pumpkins, after you are done carving them, so you can also get a garden of new pumpkins in the future.

You CAN recycle too!

What do you do with those giants cans like the ones for baked beans and peaches?? You can also get those big cans from chips. It's a cheap alternative to hold on to your candies. You can, can you?? And how about plastic bottles?? You can make a perfect spooktacular candies holder with incredible designs and the best of it, personalize and make it your own decoration at home. One Green Halloween goodie bucket made by you!! You also could recycle a paint can with most of the dried paint scraped off. Paint the can or cover inside and out with paper or fabric. Make your own drawing if you like, or write "Trick or Treat" on them (or maybe a "GO GREEN HALLOWEEN" sign would be just fine!:-) And don't forget to dance. That IS CATCHY!

"Cats-The Amusing Call" by Ana C. Antunes
Here is an alternative use for those recycling cans:

Take a large piece of recycled paper and with a sponge embedded with coloured ink, paint the board with the design of your choice and see the effect of it over the paper: it will get a nice textured surface. When it's already dried make four circles, using a can to trace the circumference over the board, and making sure the borders are large enough to be able to fold. Then cut the circles, insert the cans under them and bend the borders. With the circles that were already taken from the board bend them in semicircles and place each one of them in every corner, making sure there is glue enough to make them fit on the surface. Now fill the cans with earth and plant some seeds. Voila! You've got a new decoration for your garden.

Also wear green costumes (and I mean not necessarily the colour but borrowed costumes that can be recycled, or get fabrics and sew your own, using some imagination), remind people to take care of Mother Nature, eating healthy food and being green!

Stay healthy and have fun! That's what Halloween is all about.

MORE COOL IDEAS
If you wish to know more about Arts & crafts with collage, here is a book to play with your mind, teaching you new ways of recycling fabric and paper, while fulfilling your heart with cool treats:
"Cool-Ages" by Ana C. Antunes

Twittering my way to an audiobook

2009-10-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so thrilled to participate in a book with Neil Gaiman on Twitter. I'm cowriting the novel he started and some of my phrases have already being collected to become part of a novel that will soon be available online as an audiobook.

Details: http://www.bbcaudiobooksamerica.com/TradeHome/Blog/tabid/58/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/110/Twitter-an-Audio-Story-with-Neil-Gaiman.aspx

2009-07-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received a great birthday gift, one I have been waiting for quite a long time. My editor sent me the final editing of my new book for me to approve and voila!!! My book "Life is Too Short... Make it a Big Shot!" will be released on August, first with no delay. And that's a BIG SHOT!!!

Some GREAT NEWS!!! My books it's now available in the link below:
Life is Too Short...

My Trilogies

2009-07-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

My Memoirs:
"Flat Feet: Autobiography of a Cosmic Dancer"

http://www.lulu.com/content/40542

From the trilogy "Memoirs of an Amazon":
"As Bruxas de Avignon"

Past: History

"L'Amante de Victor Hugo"
Present: Literature

"Sweet Secrets-A Voyage to Jupiter"
Future: Science

it comes the Synthesis:
"Geometry Of Designs by Ana Bowlova"

Trilogy of Present "Diaries":

"The Diary"
Past: History

"The Royal Diary"

Present: Literature

"Many Lives To Love... And The Eternity To Live"

Future: Science

Trilogy of Puzzles:

"The 'Da Vinte Koans'- Books of Poems"

Past: History

"Dive-in-Action"

Present: Literature

"Dancing On Worlds"
Future: Science

Trilogy of Fate:

Past: Supernatural
"Cheat Chart"

Present: Natural/Normal

"One Hundred One World Accounts in One Hundred One World Count"

Future: Paranormal
"Tune the Twine/Twit the Twist"

Trilogy of My Books with Rhymes and Watercolors:

"The Four Sea Sons"
and in Portuguese as "As Quatro Fadas"
"Fables of Milk Shake's Peer"
in Portuguese as "Contos de Milk Shake Spirro"
"The Kindred Garden"
Far away on the ocean,
And deep deep down,
The water of blue in motion
Adorns all round and around.

....(a far away sound).......

But she 's so profound
That not even an anchor
Can reach her and rebound
Or touch her into the core.
Ana C.

Trilogia en Español:

"Dance and Music/Cuento de la Danza y Musica" "Dao Workbook Ilustrado" "Riñas de una Niña Teñida"

Fairy of Winter

2009-07-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

She danced just like a cat, and just like a bird
She flew as if it was her first flight out of a nest.
She imitated a leaf falling from the tree and heard
Music applauding and so excited he vibrated at last.

Music shouted excited. Dance could only feel pride.
He said the Art of Dance was for him a fairy tale.
Music then asked Dance, while she cried and sighed,
Why she didn't perform for an audience or in a fable.

So Dance told Music the story of her disgusts,
When she tried in vain to move freely as the wind.
She ran and fell, and finally said, “Fly I must!”
Dance wanted to perform subtly from her own mind.

Music then came up with an idea to share.
He stared at Dance and tried to make a deal:
While he taught Dance the secrets of the air
Dance would move and take his soul for real.

Music came like a gentle breeze and without fear
Dance let him enter in her heart and there to thrive.
Music instantly immersed deep inside of her ears.
And it was there that he spent the rest of their lives.

And now Music and Dance have a body and a soul.
Music can Dance, Dance can dream of a symphony.
All they went through made true for their goal
was to have all things living in such harmony.

The source of all ideas as they stand
In Dance and Music should be the same.
So they can walk together hand in hand
Creating possibilities as the main aim.

It is time to face the music,
And learn to listen to the whispers of the air.
This way we can move within the cosmic,
In a starry, enriched life so full of flair.
("When Dance Fell in Love with Music" and "Sea Sons- Rhymes & Songs", a book of tales and rhymes and illustrations with watercolours by Ana Claudia Antunes (available on Amazon).

"Winter Fairy" (Leg-ally Filed)

from the Ballet "Sea Sons" performed and choreographed by Ana Bowlova

Fairy of Fall

2009-07-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Fairiest of All (from the Ballet "Seasons" created and choreographed by Ana Bowlova)

Time passed and Dance could not grasp at all
How she could not move as graceful as the wind.
So she became quite blue and felt so very small.
But Music found her, for she felt she was blind.Music didn’t have a body, yet had a beautiful soul.
It lived in a gust of wind and it played with flow.
As free and light as a bird it would come and go.
And it could penetrate in all things, high or low.Music knew all the secrets of the air
Its biggest dream was to have a body and dance.
It could sing and fly, but could not dare
Doing any movement and it asked for a chance.

When Music saw Dance it fell in love.
and ordered the wind to stop right away.
Then it asked Dance how she could move,
and how she could do that in such a way.Dance was delighted by its divine voice,
not knowing from where it came for sure.
She showed Music all seasons, as a choice,
and took fall to perpetuate its nature.
("When Dance Fell in Love with Music"- a Tale by Ana C. Antunes)

Fall Fairy from the Ballet "Seasons" created and interpreted by Ana Bowlova

Summer fairy

2009-06-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

dance: the ineffable sense of saying what we cannot say with words, expressing the unthinkable, thinking the unapprehensible. There will be always dance as the essence of a romance, of a world filled with cadence, moved by the spirit in decence, never in decadance, but dance as the sense.

Danser: saisir l'unsaississable, encedier un uncertain moment qui s'épanoui, fournée fugace, que dans un instant se trace, esfumé par son propre feu, peut-etre vivre dans l'eau juste pour entendre la musique et faire d'elle une attente d'etre dans l'éther, éternel, joyeux et quelquefois jovial, autrefois sans age et toujours incessant, accessible ou incessible, mais jamais insensible.

Fairy of Summer (from the Ballet "Seasons" created and choreographed by Ana Bowlova)

Fairy of Spring

2009-06-24T08:31:00.001-07:00

Dance lived in the forest very far away
She had a beautiful body and a strong heart.
She was very flexible and stretched all day.
She moved with anything that surrounded her.Dance moved her body so free like a dream
She imitated all the animals, even flies and bees.
She floated in the water and in every stream.
And she shook and trembled like leaves from the trees.She could run and fall from the sky like the rain.
She could fly and jump as high as the birds.
She made many mouvements and they were not in vain,
for everything had a life all made of words.So Dance tried to catch and squeeze.
A little breath she took and she jumped in a hurricane.
She could not get the wind, not even a breeze.
She observed how the wind touched the windowpane.And that's how she transformed the world in four seasons
Trying desperately to fulfill her wisdom,
she penetrate into the forest and proclaim
that from now on four seasons shall reign.
So here it came first the Spring
All pretty and charming she decided she would be
She left her essence, her perfume in all things
for she had a colourful joyful way of living.
("When Dance fell in love with Music" and "Sea Sons-Rhymes & Songs" Fairy Tales by Ana Antunes

Leg(ally) Filed

Making a study of a choreography so complicated that I cannot even remember how to dance it. Well, I will have to rehearse it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, after all it's the practice that makes perfection, isn't that right??

Yet my toes're already torn
for a new dance to be born,
though tough, Ballet shoes,
they are not toys for toes.

Now that's my Fairy of Spring for my Ballet "Seasons" I got five ballerinas doing the choreography, four on each corner and one in the middle, dancing with the flowers who will give life to Spring.
Spring Fairy (choreography created and performed by Ana Bowlova)
Ballet "Seasons" by Alexander Glazunov

Fairy of Spring

2009-06-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Summer Sunset

2009-06-20T10:41:00.001-07:00

Summer Sunset

Summer of 1955

2009-06-19T12:28:00.001-07:00

Summer of 1955

The Summer Itch

2009-06-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Which One? Each On! For each Summer is a different one, and one should take their swimming suit out and make the best of it. Some people say there is a crisis out there. But I say it's a crime to keep talking about that. Let's rejoice with the so many possibilities of a reflection about our own nature and the way we've been treating our Mother Nature. Let's now make amends with each nation, and command to stop so many crimes, and demand all of us to take better care of what it's essential for our existence. I've decided a long time ago to devote my life to Arts, for I know that's the best way (at least for me) of expressing what's on my mind. So here's a study for my ballet "Seasons" as the fairy of Summer is playing everything hot to rock:

A study for my new ballet "Seasons" based upon my book "Sea Sons-Rhymes & Songs" available at Amazon (and in Japan@http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1435724798/?tag=ld-review-22)

Ballet "Seasons"

2009-06-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

I'm making some studies of Ballet costumes and preparing some sketches to produce a ballerina's photo shoot for a new session of a Ballet Concert. Theme: "The Seasons" by Alexander Glazunov all based upon my illustrated book "Sea Sons- Rhymes & Song" (available at: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-sea-sons/37337) and soon I will post more watercolors, pictures and videos about the "Seasons".

Sunrise over Andes

2009-06-06T08:32:00.001-07:00

Heaven is thine
Embrace what's mine
As I cannot give a flower
Vividly there to shine.
Entice the kiss as shadows of a bliss
Never ending the sunshine of ours.

Love frees us of all pain,
Or that one may restrain.
Vicious circle that ever widens without end.
Essentially a glorious manifestation we befriend.

Love with no boundaries and no restraint,
Or it makes one saint, or the other faint;
Vows the sweetest face, the tenderest embrace,
Each bringing the sun to place in such grace.

Sometimes the snow comes down in June again.
Or also it's the sun that goes round a blue mountain.
Under the sun nature comes to life this very morning
Little birds sing, busy bees and drivers are horning.

The sun rising over the Andes makes me meditate
Over the place we are, in our Earth current state.
On how we can create more harmony with violet light
Letting Love vibration surround us into a deep insight.

HEAVEN LOVE, LOVE: SOUL TOOL - Acrostic by Ana Claudia nTunes

Two weeks too wiki!!

2009-05-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

There is a saying that goes as something like "Time flies when you have fun!" And that's exactly what happened to me in the last two weeks. Although I also believe that when you make too many things it seems like a decade. I've got so many cultural events and invitations that I could hardly keep track of the time. It slipped between my hands. But what I got from it will stay for eternity. First I attended the ceremony which opened the new season of concerts in Santos. Then I went to the exposition in the Pinacoteca also located in Santos. I also made it to a session of cinema festival (France). Finally I went to the (almost) inauguration of the Guarany Theatre (there was a prior public event a month ago) Guarany is an Indian tribe in Brazil, but there was not much of their presence inside, which by the way is something of such an amazing sofistication on the details for preservation and restauration as well as it has a modern touch. Actually what impressed me most in the ceremony (besides the beauty of the music and the really interesting documentary of an hour or so) was exactly the lack of public. Not that it was for the elite. But once again, I notice that an event, even announced for the public in general makes no quorum. Only a few people came to appreciate this divine work. I took some pictures from inside the building. I was memerized by the work they've done. If you knew that there only the vegetation watched the walls of that theatre (or the remainings of it) and there was no ceiling, the paintings almost vanished. They had to rebuild the whole theatre pratically from scratch (and sketches, considering they got the old plan and based the restauration upon that). There I watched the first time public presentation of a concert with a composition from another composer born in Santos, Mr. Camargo Guarnieri. Then I noticed many orbs around (some unexplainable round and transparent forms, like foo fighters, orbitating in a circle shape), and it was not much of my surprise that this phenomenon happens in old places, but I already sensed some presences, definitely related to the composer to whom the hommage was being granted.

There I also met another composer from Santos, Mr. Gilberto Mendes and this time I asked him for an autograph, "Are you a musician too!" He asked me. "No, but I enjoy music very much... well, I sing."

Holding one of the books by Gilberto Mendes, "To live your music"

Above, a picture of Gilberto Mendes & I in the Guarany Theatre in Santos, Brazil. Below, his Signature that he gracefully gave me with a (heart)beat graphic on the first letter of his first name "G" (and he said it was the paper that made the ink fail, but I already heard his heart gladly dancing in cheers, very emotional and with a smile, ike saying, "Gee", while he tried in vain to mark the note in G;)
I do not consider myself a musician but now, thinking more about that, I should. I compose and I sing my own songs. If that's not a musician by excellence, I do not know what would be. Just because I am too shy to show them up for the public view and criticism it doesn't mean I do not belong to the music clan. I do not like labels either, but my nickname (the one that my family got for me, even before I had my own name) has already a music trademark on it (Decca). And it is not without a background either: both my sisters are singers and my father and grandmother also played the piano. Neitherless to say, I LOVE/LIVE MUSIC!!!

What I also love here in Santos are the colors.
Hence like birds in flight look the flowers.
A peacock look has the one displayed down,
The one with a peak and with a small crown.

Boiling the Odds

2009-04-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Being a writer and living in another country is not an easy task (see my essay about immigration that I once shared on my first message that I posted on this blog) and being a foreigner is never a piece of cake, yet it has so many compensations that it's quite worth the working process. When we first arrive to another place that's outside our spectrum we may feel quite vulnerable and alienated, but once we share more similarities than odds it changes the perspective, thus giving us the liberty to have a brand new start. I don't know though how one may come to terms while speaking other languages and blending into other cultures, we all have our particularities and our ways as to find strenght and faith in our own limitations and extreme situations we may face on the way when dealing with what's different, distant and exotic for us. The most recent cases of a Vietnamese immigrant who killed thriteen people in a citizenship class because he got frustrated for losing his job, and the discrimination one may suffer for being an immigrant can be examplified by that man who killed Chilean immigrants inside their own homes in Pensacola. Society always failed into introducing an odd character, the ugly duckling, rather mocking about its lack of skills (which is probably because he didn't learn what the others know since they were born, or it was not in his system, but yes, one day he may even surpass that and surprise us!) Now it's Susan Boyle (the singer who astonished everyone by her lack of attractiveness and her beautiful voice) that is in the news, showing how much it costs to be different. Examples, there are plenty!! But for me being an outsider and different from others has always blessed me with bliss in many levels. Writing in another country gives me even more insightful moments. And I can always have that eye that sees from the outside, from another point of view, and yet being able to belong to the places I live at the same time... it's quite an adventure that makes me move and be moved in a constant exchange of experiences. But for that to happen one must be strong inside and humble enough to let go of some matters of the ego and simply think: "What can I offer to others??" And then what one takes is much more than one may expect. All in all it is always Paradise (and no parasite) to just get up and dance.

Face it!

2009-04-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

What does that do to you? Can you feel a sense of accomplishment, or some sort of serenity inside of you while watching that? Can you feel as if you belonged to them all? Or is that just me who wants to be inspired by great artists?? I feel Art in motion with much emotion. Elation!!

While watching this video I feel inspired by the amalgam of artistic displays that Philip S. Johnson constructed so well while combining music and images in a fusion of styles, colours and rythms, so much in tune with all the manifestation of cultures around the world, making them dance as one.

Celebrating Years of Work

2009-03-25T11:51:00.001-07:00

I've just got the news that "Life is Too Short..." is going to be released in April by Devine Destinies. And I'm simply dazzled by the cover of my new book created by Angie Waters (http://www.millenniumpromotion.com):

This book is about past lives experiences, about the future, but most importantly about the precious moment that is NOW.

For over twenty years I've been directed to play so many roles it was virtually impossible to keep track of them all. Until last year when I got my own camera and found out that to be on the other side is much more amusing... it's even more fun if you can manage to be in both ways (and at the same time:)

L'amour que je ressente pour l'Art
me fait chanter comme un oiseau qui part
a voler dans les abimes du ciel bleu
l'oiseau qui veux vivre
livre
a chanter tout autour...
L'Amour!

Participate too... Voting for me!!

2009-03-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

It's in the mood to take attitude and meditating over the International Women's Day that here I just joined a contest. May the best (of any gender) win!

Best Original Oil Pain...

See More Contests!

The thing is I don't think we advanced much as humans, not in the sense of a spiritual advance. When I just hear in the news of intrafamiliar violence, and a recent case of rape of a nine year old girl who then got pregnant (and of twins) I still have hopes men will evolve. 200 years of Darwinism and nothing really changed. Well, it takes millions of years for a specie to evolve. Maybe one hundred years more and we will be able to stay free of those cruel acts. If we cannot even stay safe and in peace in our own homes.

Burning in Melbourne

2009-03-02T09:59:00.001-08:00

On what they called the Black Saturday, temperatures rising up to 48 degrees Celsius in Victoria, the same day the bushfires started, and nothing more to do but take a bath on the beach in Melbourne. High winds and hot weather, beside the drought that kept the area for many months, all too many of ominous signs in many of the fire danger zones across the state and over all of the global climate change. A HOT DAY: On February, 7th, 2009= 2+7=9 and 2009=11, which equals 9/11, the hottest someone could get, to never forget...

Up to now the fire consumed a large part of the native forest, and the bushfires are still devastating the area, as the wind grows stronger and the high temperatures still remaining, making it impossible for the firefighters to just act in the whole region. It's just sad that there is not much we can do but pray that rain will finally come on the way.

Hell on Earth

2009-02-12T02:51:00.000-08:00

On the way to The Prom (The Wilsons Promontory) a National Park in Victoria the roads were closed and people had to be evacuated the day before, there were still fire burning in the forest. Just another sign of the global warming affecting the whole world, as temperatures reached 48 degrees two days before the firebush started and in a very dry condition. They are saying that the death toll from that perfect fire storm, the worst in all history of Australia will reach or surpass 300 people. I've had just passed through those such beautiful places and I feel so sorry for all that happenned.

Being so close to the bushfires made me even more focused about the tragedy that affected Victoria's wildlife. And I was touched by the koalas reaching for water when just days before I had seen them quietly resting on the trees... and all the pics I saw in the news, especially of a little marsupial with all four burned claws being treated which I post as a manifestation of mourning over those other millions of wildlife who could not even have the chance to make it through.
More than a million wildlife are gone in consequence. In the most devastating one right in Marysville power lines caused the fire. I am saddened by all the victims in Victoria's tragedy but we should not only blame the flames on bush... we all should take better care of Mother Nature. We need to cooperate with Earth more than operate on her. Or we won't survive to tell the tale.

The aftermath of the Victorian bushfires in a beach nearby:

ASTRAL DAY

2009-01-23T07:56:00.000-08:00

Next Monday, it will be the celebration of my birthplace's foundation, the exotic island of Santos, in Brazil. I will also be celebrating the Chinese New Year and the Australia Day, and I will be watching the first solar eclipse of the year in Australia. A major metamorphosis is expected, so hold onto your seat belts, for many circumstances will change for now on. Much of the old issues that had us stuck in time and space will give place to a new approach in life. And I am so excited I will be there to witness it all, for it's from only parts of Africa, India, and in Australia (except Tasmania) that it will be able to view this eclipse. A major shift is about to occur. And believe me, it will be for the better, and what is not working anymore will magically (if not instantly) disappear from our lives for good, giving birth to a new YOU and even a change of appearance will be of a radical one to reflect the changings within (especially if you are a Leo like I am:)

So see you with a new face, a new life style, a new vision of our future.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T03:32:00.000-08:00

The New Year of 2009 in Santiago, Chile. Notice that in the video that I recorded at four minutes it begins to appear a face among a cloud of fireworks in the shape of a heart:

Watch for those hearts that appear in the sky.
Here it means love and light in our lives.
At least that is what we wish for, up high,
The dreams we've been having of no more strives...

"I want a Sweetheart" (on my way)

How I miss some sugar
I miss to have a sweetheart
But as I don't have any
I live my life so lonely.

I just want a honey
who brightens up my days.
A sweetheart for me
in my own way
who cheers up my days.

A sweet love for me
to smile again
and end up my pain.
(Translation by Ana in-Tunes)

The last night of 2008 came with a great surprise: The Planets aligned to show where to salute the Sun, the Star that reigned 2008 (the number One, 2+0+0+8= 10= 1) to welcoming the Moon that will be ruling the next year. So I went to the top of a mountain to see the fireworks. But before that, I watched the alignement of the planets Mercury and Jupiter (this one representing number 7, month when I was born) making a perfect straight line with Venus (number 6 which, numbers added, it is the year that I was born) already in alignement with a dazzling strip like a fairy tale drawing of a Crescent Moon (which represents number 2 as 2+9=11=2, 29 is the day that I was born), and all pointing towards the sunset, to the Sun (which rules Leo).

A Sea of Love in the ^i^

...the Planets align so rare,
there is promise in the air, ye, yeah!!

So, with all the signs showing that I was in perfect alignment with the day that I was born, as if a newborn baby with a life ahead and so many plans to conquer, just born in that night, I made a wish to Mother Moon that hopefully will create a rainbow of love to us all: Peace On Earth. To quote Poe:

For the heart whose woes are legion
'Tis a peaceful, soothing region-
For the spirit that walks in shadow
'Tis- oh, 'tis an Eldorado!

Now that is how I envision the new year: Two pandas in the cold winter in a bamboo wall street...

A big fat panda being helped by a smaller one, but strong enough to make them both happy to have brought this up!

Happy 2009!!

For Christmas and for all the years to come...

2008-12-23T02:13:00.000-08:00

Many came but only two blue did appear.
Enlaced in a sleigh, all happy the reindeer,
Rolled in the snow that covered the house,
Reindeer darling of she who's Ana Claus,
Yell to the whole world to hear:

Christ, the Lord, oh so near!
Holy Saints rejoice and sing,
Real life comes for us to bring
In tender thoughts and dear salvation
So is the Lord and all His Creation.
Tender and sweet as the little things
Mild and soft He who is the King.
All in one voice echoing with no parallel:
Save us the Lord, it's Noel, Noel, Noel!

Book for Donation
"Sea Sons" live in harmony with nature, showing how the four elements add beauty and grace to the entire world throughout the whole year. An old-fashioned illustrated and bilingual book with Christmas Carol and rhymes in English and Portuguese. Proceeds from this book are going to the donation of clothes, books, toys, food and other basic needs for children in Brazil who live in slums. The best way to make a child smile is to giving in person. It's priceless and the most rewarding thing in the world. So I promise to post pictures with those smiles and videos here and on my blogpage of those kids singing and dancing in joy, enjoying their gifts: their own lives.
God Bless and... MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.
Sea Sons- Rhymes & Songs:
http://www.lulu.com/content/37337

(In Portuguese) As Quatro Fadas:
http://www.lulu.com/content/5005637

It's a Dog's Life!

2008-12-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

In a world so hard,
made of steel,
a loyal dog steals
my heart...

Without a single clue
in a royal rescue, so true,
he saves his dead companion
of being torn apart.

Orbiting at the Theater

2008-12-07T09:02:00.001-08:00

I was listenning (and singing) Brazilian songs from Djavan to Chico Buarque and Milton Nascimento with a variety of Jazz musicians and other Brazilian Popular Music groups (the majority from Argentina) at the First Music Festival of Bossa Nova that took place in Mendoza, Argentina (December, 5th and 6th 2008). I took a couple of pictures and what was my surprise to realize just now that there were some orbs around the stage (maybe they were orbitating dancers just enjoying the show). Then after I left the theater I saw a group of scholars celebrating their Prom. I took a pic and voila, more orbs around. I guess it was a great heavenly party night at the city of Mendoza after all. And it's not only at night the fairies go party. During the day they are all around, at least in my garden of flowers. (Click on Pics and look for Orbs:)

Twilight and New Moon rising

2008-11-24T05:52:00.000-08:00

I started reading the Twilight and its sequence, New Moon, from the debutant writer Stephenie Meyer, sometime back then when I got a pocket book sample while in the International Book Fair in Sao Paulo. And, neitherless to say, that did not impress me much... thought it was maybe due to the translation in Portuguese, but then, my intuition about novels are pretty much accurate. Just thought maybe it didn't work this time, by all the fuss (and fuzz) this book had been about (given the marketing costs it surely was already prepared to the pain in all gain again compared only to the Da Vinci Code fever) to have conquered the hearts of so many teens and also grown up women (and men!) but nope, I guess it's just a question of in-tuition! For when I was in my early teens at the elementary school I was not so much obliged as delighted to read novels from the Brazilian classics of authors such as Machado de Assis, Drummond, and the chronicles from Ruben Fonseca, Cecilia Meirelles and others who were still alive by then. As a teenager my literature in high school consisted of overdose of adult contemporary fiction and nonfiction, of science-fiction, but with no fantasy included, with obligatory readings and studies on deep analysis from books of authors of the heightest ranks, from the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen to Proust, Voltaire, William Shakespeare, then Aldoux Huxley and George Orwell. Such books as 1984 and Animal Farm were just samples from final exams. I guess after all that, it is difficult for me to understand why books about vampires tend to be such a hit nowadays. That probably means the educational system today is failing on providing children the necessary tools to comprehend deeper meanings, leaving them lost into a labyrinth of choices which in turn leads them to an abysm where literature is concerned. Hopefully the sun will rise again in the horizon, and the moon and other works of art will be let to inspire authors and readers with better subjects than conspiracy theories, vampires and wolves.

Ana is using her third-"I" to literally understand such phenomena

2012: The Mayan Prophecy

2008-11-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

Now there's another movie which is being released and that is already making the world roar: 2012, about the Mayan Prophecy of the world finishing in that year. But more than the story itself what is interesting is people's reactions to that issue, which varies from a "Oh My God!" to "Whatever" in so many cultures and languages that is hard to know exactly what it is really going to happen. Cientists say there will be a shift of poles. The Global Warming evidence shows that the poles are actually melting, rising the ocean levels. Prophets such as the Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato, author of "The Black President" recently made his spooky science-fiction written in 1926 come true when he exposed his first and only adult book about a president who would win between other two candidates (a white woman and man) from the other parties and this all happens in the year 2228 (I won't be a spolier here but wait until you read that, for there is much more on the book with quite revealing index). Another prophet, this one in America also predicted that the last president of the United States would be a black man. And voila: he is now Baracking the world! So 2012 would represent the end of the world AND a new beginning as the beginning is the end and vice-versa. It will mark the start of a new horizon with the Age of Aquarius. According to Edgar Cayce it means “the full consciousness of the ability to communicate with the Creative Forces and be aware of the relationships to the Creative Forces and the uses of same in material environs(...)” as that we as humans will be reawakening to a brighter future with an evolved consciousness.
Let's just all pray for that, then!
Amen!

Talking about reaching out to our Creative Forces and tapping into an ocean of abundant source, I just released my Picture Book with a Christmas carol and rhymes in Portuguese and English, available also as a pocket book.
"Sea Sons/Filhos do Mar"

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

Quantum of Solace is the name of the last secret agent James Bond's movie. And the footage, which just took place this year at the north of Chile, it's been released at the Theaters nearby. Among many other exotic places it was also filmed in Antofagasta and the desert of Atacama. A sequence of "Cassino Royale" is already a cocktail of ventures and adventures. On April they were finishing the last scenes. "The Happy rap wrap April party" (when they finally close the set and left) happened just the other day. But it's just too bad I was not invited to any of that. Though the blond Bond girl is now a brunette and the north of Chile became Bolivia (just for the takes) and the whole region became furious (what if they want to make it appear as a remote and exotic place, which is, by the way) and that is quite enough "bouleversement" for any team. I got to find solace "por encanto e por enquanto" in "Quantum" when I see that (I'm planning to go anytime soon) and recognize some parts of the desert which I drove not long ago. At least I won't have my eyes overwhelmed by beautiful pictures wondering where they had filmed that. For, you know, it's not only about action, but location, location, location...

Talking about action and big parties, I just painted a Lady in Red, dressed in a flamenco style, which reminded me of Sevilla:
And once in Andalusia, we cannot miss Jerez de la Frontera, a city which is in the province of Cadiz. There also takes place the International Motorcycle Grand-Prix. But enough of automatic and fast machineries. Now I just want to go take a walk, giving time to meditate and look around...
A Blond Bond Blend in Jerez:

¿Y por que Jerez?
¡Porque eres!

Life is but a blink of an eye.
One moment for you and I.
A minute into a small size
Delighting like a paradise!

ANDES MOUNTAIN

2008-11-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain Wearing Her Night Gown...

Ana's 50 X 70 inches paintings of the view in and out of her window in Santiago, Chile

"Einstein on the Beach"

2008-10-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went in the Chile and North-American Institute to watch a conference about the works of the illustrate choreographer Merce Cunningham. Janet Charleston was exposing videos and explaining his methods with much clarity. I waited eagerly in the class at the Dance Expectator School which I attend, for I knew it was written on the program (at The Dance Expectator School Site) that she would talk about the experience she had while dancing with Lucinda Childs the Philip Glass opera "Einstein on the Beach" and also that she would show a video about this montage. Then in the end I asked her, "Don't you have any material on that?" "Yes, I do have it," Janet answered, "But they are at home in New York." I wasn't satisfied. "I guess now I will have to go to new York to see that." I gasped. "But you can view that on youtube," interviened the host of the event. "Right!! yes, the youtube..." I was even more dissatisfied. For I checked youtube. It's not that the recording is bad, but would I have the chance to watch that with the presence of some performer who actually was there. A chance of a lifetime. Almost twenty years have passed since I first found out about Mr. Cunningham. it was all by chance that I took an workshop with his "Dance Company", as he accompanied one of his pupils, assisting us at the Dance Festival in Sao Paulo. It was my very first attempt of trying something different than my eight years of extremely exhausting Ballet training. And I was exhilarated that I then found out my body could work much better in another time and space. It was almost as if I had that eureka moment, I guess that is what Einstein felt when he found that E=mc².That experience had such a huge effect on me, and since then I pretty much try to go to the essence of everything. So how was my disappointment yesterday that a dancer/choreographer would rather talk much more about another person's works than her own. Not that I didn't enjoy the expose, I did take a lot from it. I learned how much Cunningham's method have evolved by the use of life forms and the help of technology. But I would rather have spent five hours listenning to a boring sound, but that it is original, from his own creator than a second-handed exhibition. Though I know dancers are interpreters of a movement, they usually take all that they can absorve and yet incorporate their own tone (and that's not big news). So I guess I just wanted to experience the dancer's energy and experiment, hearing more about New York of Charleston and Einstein than Cunningham after all.

glitter-graphics.com
And I am still watching “Einstein on the beach” while wondering, "if he took a bath after all that math, would that be considered a brain wash??"

A sonnet to Albert Einstein (I just wrote inspired by the note I did quote:)

Albert took a bath
Longing for his Math.
But isn't it a panache,
Experiencing a brain wash?
Relatively energetic enough
To bounce a theory on the rough.

Energy equals MC square...
In which terms, in which glare?
No matter the matter or how rare,
Simply energy it's in there.
Theories abound, views to be reckoned,
Eurekas in a fraction of a second.
In only one particle there's all
No matter how tall.... or small.

International Animation Day

2008-10-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ana was very animated when she went to Paris the same time the "Savage Garden" (the Australian Duo) filmed "Truly Madly Deeply" and oh so in sync was their clip and song as well as its lyrics with her own soul that little would she know then she was already making her own path from an old film to a soap opera, singing in her own rhythm, by the beat of her heart, looking up in the cosmical sky, reflecting her own shinning star. And how much it took for her to get there? Well, those are stories she tells from her memories to her memoirs, dancing on words, as she dances as one.

Some tids and bits of TODAY/TOMORROW/YESTERDAY:

On October 28th, 1892, a French inventor Emile Reynaud (1844-1918) made the first public performance of animation at the Grevin Museum in Paris, using his own invention "optical theater".

ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d' Animation, registered in Annecy, France) decided to celebrate this historic day as "International Animation Day", aiming to promote and develop animation art all over the world.

Favelados (People living in precarious conditions)

2008-10-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

An 'Arts Institute at Bournemouth' Animation

"Favelados tells the story of two orphaned children living in the Favelas outside Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Emmanuel, the young shoe shine boy faces the burden of his unwell sister Ria. All that he prays for in his poverty stricken world is that his sister is happy once more."

A very realistic, sad and yet moving movie animation. It is like being there in full presence. A bitter sweet portrait of my country. Very touching! Hope this serves as a reminder, to openning the eyes of people to do something about the miseries in this world.

Blog Action Day: Fighting Poverty in the World

2008-10-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

To fight against poverty one should fight against the global warming or the world will colapse in catastrophic proportions with a terrible prospect: People could be displaced from their own land as the ocean will rise in an increasingly high level and lack of food and supply would be the topic of the day. If we don't take action now the whole world would have to face a much worst perspective about hunger and deficit in the economy. Talking with the governamental authorities is crucial. But we, as individuals, could make much more than that: Eco-T(R)ips

Take, for example, organizations such as "Hogar de Cristo" founded by the Saint Alberto Hurtado here in Chile and see for yourself that with little we can help a lot already: The Priest and now Saint Alberto Hurtado started to implement a project to eradicate poverty in his country. His success was due to the fact that he really cared about the disadvantaged people.He would always ask himself, "What would Christ do in my place?" It is not out of mimetizing His work but asking what would He do in our days.

A reunion with the Priest Alberto Hurtado and his colleagues at the Saint Ignatius College (A Family Collection)

Everytime I go to the supermarket the cashier asks me if I want to donate some. And I always say, "Yes!" How could I say no to this foundation who help poor people and is a visibly working process? Chile is one of the countries in Latin America with less poverty. So I was surprised when I saw a man so irritated with tha question saying, "Why you keep asking me that?" And he didn't want to donate. I should rather ask the same question adding, "Why ask? Please, of course I will donate." As much as I am sure it will have a good effect on people. If it helps, even if in small quantities, it is valid.

In England: " William John Williams, 67, was found with serious burns to his back after apparently having petrol poured on him in a lane of a busy Cardiff street on 17 January.
Two youths, aged 16, are accused of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The victim had lived the lifestyle of a tramp and was to be seen about the streets and communities at all times of day, despite having an address at Gloucester Street in the Riverside area." (source:BBCNEWS)

Four men dressed in Scottish kilts are accused of pouring petrol over and setting light to a 41 year old Portuguese vagrant, sleeping on cardboard boxes in Valencia´s Plaza de la Reina during the early hours of Wednesday morning. (The victim) who has been living on the streets of Valencia for the last eleven years since all his grape picking wages were stolen from him and he could not face going back home to face his father´s angry disappointment.

"They kept me in for a few hours then let me go. I had to walk back to the Plaza de la Reina because nobody would give me any money for a taxi," added Albert, who explained that he was in a rush to get back to check on his three dogs, who were not injured in the attack. (...) says he will be hanging on to his walking stick to defend himself with should anything similar happen to him in the future. (source: ThinkSpain)

Qui, 09 Out, 02h41
Um morador de rua foi alvo de incendiários na noite de ontem, quando dormia em uma praça no bairro do Tatuapé, zona leste de São Paulo. A vítima, de aproximadamente 50 anos, sofreu queimaduras de primeiro grau em todo o corpo, exceto na face. Segundo paramédicos que o atenderam, uma mulher que passava pelo local testemunhou três pessoas jogando um líquido sobre o morador de rua e ateando fogo em seguida, fugindo a pé. Ela acionou uma ambulância ao ver a vítima em chamas. (source:Agencia Estado)

Five days ago, a tramp was set on fire in the streets of Sao Paulo. At least there was a woman who saw the whole thing and called an ambulance. For God's sake, when we will give a hand to someone who needs it? They could have been your father, or your son. What if it was YOU??

People come together
Over one voice, one word,
Viewing the world as one.
Erase poverty forever
Realizing this absurd
That things are set undone.
Yell, "Poverty: None!"

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."
- Bono (Lead Singer U2) from his speech at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast, Washington DC.

"STAND UP, STAND UP, STAND UP!"

It's a God's Life!

2008-10-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

With the recession and the global financial turmoil, it's time to roll up our sleeves and help people get in touch with what truly matters in our world by spreading the words of equality and fairness, and putting our fingers in the economic problems to solve some issues that have been like a plague, and giving solutions to the mess we all are. People are so concerned about their loosing money that they got lost amidst the deepest despair when so many live in hunger and are getting hungrier by the minute. In our rushing times it's just so easy to disconnect from what is really important in our lives. The basic needs are indeed what truly matters in all languages, all nations and all colors: to have a home, food in our plate, a good health, piece of mind and someone to share all that. So in five days I will be joining the world with words at the blog action day to getting verbal about poverty around the world. Would you join me too?

Changing the Guard at Palacio de la Moneda

2008-10-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

"En Garde!" He shouts.
"What's this all about?"
could have sang the bards.
"Changing the Guards."

What were they doing
before they went renewing
the others marching in the yard
Changing the Guards?

Were they playing cards
or were all in disregard?
What if they miss their time
when nothing else should rhyme?

It would have made a mess
if they were playing chess,
instead of Changing the Guards.
It must be so very hard...

To stay up all day long
and doing nothing wrong.
How can they belong
and still stay so strong?

What if some of the guards
leave soon or are in retard?
What happens if they move
from their conventional groove?

"Changing the Guards" © 2008 Ana Claudia Antunes

Independence Day in Chile

2008-09-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

Ana grabbed her camera this afternoon and went right to the Palacio de la Moneda in Santiago to film the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, live, leaving and heading to the Independence Day's Parade:

101 Post

2008-09-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

I just read my new book which arrived in the mail >"One Hundred One World Accounts in One Hundred One Word Count" in One Hundred One Whole Minutes.
Holding my new born baby, the book >"One Hundred One World Accounts in One Hundred One Word Count" now available on Amazon and other major retailers worldwide. Getting ready to make a public reading... just getting readY
"One Hundred One World Accounts in One Hundred One Word Count" in One Hundred One Whole Minutes are stories from all over the world told in exactly one hundred one words at least in Windows (and by that I mean your computer not in your house) using ms word (forget about word perfect, for this is not a perfect world.) And that's this book is all about. About the world as we see, a quick, fast-paced, crashed into many broken pieces, that in the end turns out to be all related into one. Like the number itself reveals 101: One to one and the world (as a circle) in the middle. It is not a nouvelle, although it could be converted as a sketch to many series, not even a short-story anthology, or flash-fictions, for they are real events, although sometimes quite surreal. I defined it as humour, for it is considered to be the biggest challenge for all writers around the world, to summarize a long story in a small space, which demands attention on the details, balance in the exposition of the story, and suspense in all tales, of a much higher impact than a whole novel. It's thin, it's economical, it's ecological, echoed and logical, and it's time saving as much as paper, for it doesn't require too many pages. It does speak from (and for) the heart as a way of manifesting all the joy, anger, troublesome, anguish, mixed emotions that make us all so human after all. I wish anyone who read this book will crack out loud to their top (literally, as an open mind) and have a blast, for each one hundred one a thousand smiles. Wondering why Buda is represented by a monk showing off that bloated belly (his center filled with powerful energy) and laughing??
A real wasted day, the one to pass without,
is the one you didn't spend laughing about. Ana C. Antunes

>"One Hundred One World Accounts in One Hundred One Word Count" in One Hundred One Whole Minutes...
I know I cannot stop repeating that enough... It's like a MANTRA, although I think that I might be already sounding like a Brazilian parrot myself...lol... (but, that's my way, maybe repeating that a thousand times to myself and to the world, I would actually believe I published it!! I did, I surely did it!!:) soon to post the Amazon (not the green parrot but the retailer) link to my book.

101 represents
The Beginning is the End.
Alpha and Omega,
a palindrome.
It's Home
the manifestation
And what is on:
The One.

So how long it took me from start to finish or finish to start? If you consider that the title of my book has a palindrome, a number, represented by The Beggining is the End" meaning the "alpha and omega" symbol (101) well, then, that's a tough question. I mean, there were some stories inside other stories, they were haunting me since high school, others were just delivered as a way to take them out of my back (or chest). You know, they are all about real life events, so it took quite a while to expose them all right and really feel that it did fit with the ensemble. I wrote each story in exactly one hundred one words so they were also under microscopic lens. And you know the toughest part for a writer is to really cut to the essential, and if for that you mean in basically small words that's a record to play. Hope I didn´t sound too much like a parrot here, for editing that message it would take me a couple of more years... Cheers!

50 Years of Bossa Nova

2008-09-01T17:56:00.001-07:00

I went to the exposition on the celebration of 50 years of Bossa Nova at the Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo, that will take place until September, Seven (Brazil's Independence Day) and it´s an exhibition not to miss. Missing only Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Dorival Caymmi, but as the music says, "life doesn't like to wait..." So hurry up.

In Press to Impress: Two Hundred Years of Journalism in Brazil

2008-08-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

The first Brazilian newspaper, the Gazeta of Rio de Janeiro, was printed in Brazil on September 10th, 1808. Three months before that the Correo Braziliense was considered the first press, although published oversea, in London, and entered in Brazil in a clandestine way, even though it was made for the elite and the monarchic (tres chic) regimen.

I once wanted to be a journalist just to have my dream gone on my first attempt to enter the most important University in Sao Paulo. But anyway, who told me I needed to become a journalist in order to be a writer, if I were already a storyteller since childhood? The day of my inscription for the exam (which for me meant almost to reach the same score as if I was to enter to the University of Medicine, almost like applying to be a doctor) a man who took care of the contenders, once he saw my choice for studies, said out loud, "One more lier in the world!" So much for an incentive to just leave it all behind. If I were to write I would write about the thruth, even if it was a fiction, it would be a fiction about the truth. I never stopped with my dream of being a writer, actually I never stopped being one, and what other people would say about to get me out of track, on the contrary, that would be enough reason for me to keep typing. That's how the introduction from this book by Paulo Coelho (see below) ressonates deep into my soul, when he says that when he thought he had given up his dream, life would sweep off the rug under his foot and get him back to what he most deeply wanted in his life: To be a writer. Don't you just hate when fate plays out its part and just press you against all the odds until you finally give up and see that it was all right?

Browse Inside this book

Get this for your site

Portrait of Gilberto Mendes

2008-08-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Above, a picture of Gilberto Mendes & I in the Guarany Theatre in Santos, Brazil.
Below, his Signature:Now I am feeling really blessed. This afternoon I've got the priviledge of presentiating the presentation of many artists (all of them from my birthplace) in my birthplace but of different areas in their best performances. A pianist played an encyclopedia of different musics from the Classical compositor Gilberto Mendes, a soprano sang his compositions, mostly lyrics from other poets born in Santos, such as Vicente de Carvalho, but also from S. John (The Woman and the Dragon) and I was exhilarated to see a painter (also from Santos but who lives in California now) portraying this moment. I looked out at the window of that beautiful big maison and then I saw surfers stretching out to ride the big waves. I was riding, right, but in the web of life, in extasis being surrounded by sound, visual delight and entering into a state of bliss. It made my heart complete to know that so many wonderful artists were blessed by the green waves of the sea of Santos. And they are all Saints, or at least touched by them.
Just a shame I didn't have my camera then. But that is recorded forever in my cornucopian corneal archive. Just to take out some curiosity here is an emblematic moment from this extraordinary man and his so well deserved coronation (in life as in his career) and laureated glories in his light-crowned head:

International Book Fair

2008-08-22T02:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Sao Paulo with my mother to go to the International Book Fair and I stayed there all day long. I was so tired of walking there all day and carrying all the heavy books my mom wanted to buy that now I cannot even sleep so much my back hurts. There I also went to a conference lead by a new authour, and illustrator (just as I am) who spoke up about his beliefs which in a way echoed my own thoughts about the publishing media. I could keep listening to him for the whole evening. He said that everyone has a story to tell and he certainly did have a lot of his own, not to mention of other people he met (and you can view his blog here: http://walthermoreirasantos.blogspot.com/). But I was so overwhelmed by the exhaustion that I could not even speak with the contact I had with the editor. I passed right through him, saying only a brief "hello" and then leaving for I was already late to my mother's appointment. Later on we still went to see my sister rehearsal as she said she was singing just for me who won't be there when she has her presentation in two weeks. Saturday I will go to a lecture of a writer friend of mine at the local library right at the beach. She's been writing for the major newspaper here in Santos. So I kind of look up for her. Next week i will be back in Santiago. Already missing the sunny days I've been spending at the beach...

É Doce Morrer No Mar, Dorival!

2008-08-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

It had been two month that his wife was there at the hospital. She had a heart attack, and as he waited for her to come back he also waited her call every day. Until he day she entered in a state of coma and it had been already nin days gone and he hadn't heard from her. Thinking that she was already dead and nobody did tell him, Caymmi, considered for all the grandpa of Bossa Nova, left us in his recently completed 94 years old.
Good-bye, Caymmi, you will be missed! Good-bye, long-played, so long...

É doce morrer no mar / Sweet it is to die in the sea
Nas ondas verdes do mar/ In the green waves of the sea
É doce morrer no mar / It's sweet to die in the sea
Nas ondas verdes do mar / In the green waves of the sea

Saveiro partiu de noite foi/ The boat left at night
Madrugada não voltou /Early in the morning he didn't come
O marinheiro bonito/ The handsome sailor
Sereia do mar levou/ The mermaid took him

A noite que ele não veio foi/ The night he didn't come was
Foi de tristeza prá mim/ It was so sad for me
Triste noite foi prá mim/ Sad night it was for me

Nas ondas verdes do mar/in the green waves of the sea
Ele se foi afogar/he drowned
Fez sua cama de noivo/He made his bed of groom
No colo de Iemanjá/ In the arms of Yemanja
É doce morrer... (Dorival Caymmi/Jorge Amado)

Le Coq Sportif

2008-08-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Le coq loves the Olympics

Episode 11/18 : Starace à Pékin
envoyé par lecoqloveschina

The Olympic Games started and I am already mesmerized by so many events in and outside the television set. Imagine joining the whole world together to celebrate a happy time and right then make a war. It sounds totally surreal that in time where all nations are battling the good fight (sports in general are supposed to make you feel good even if you loose it) you gain the knowledge that there is a war inside a country. My condolence rises and goes to all the Georgians, all the widows, sons and daughters who just became orphans, and the numbers increasing of people suffering in the world augmenting each and every day. Sometimes my heart just wants to explode with all that, but I know I would be of any service to all if I keep sadness in my heart. So I just leave a prayer in the air, hoping it will float on other people's heart and give relief to the ones who suffer most.

Besides taking a look or two on the games, I've been busy working on my audiobooks, arranging some new tunes, composing music and songs along with my tales for kids. It's been fun! Hope I will soon share that here to you and make a heart or two happy too.

Don't keep walking in your life with sadness in your heart.
Live each day with happiness and make it a brand new start.

Nao atravesse a vida carregando tristeza em seu coracao.
Viva cada dia com alegria e faca disso uma linda cancao.
Ana Antunes

A Car Crash

2008-08-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I took a brief trip but only two days after I left I had a car crash. The car is totally damaged, couldn't run anymore. I have contusions and I am under lots of pain both on my abdomen and on my back and arms. Funny thing is the reaction I received from many people who were simply curious to see how it happened and didn't even think of helping out. I even overheard people saying while I was still trying to recover my breath that, by the sound of the impact, they thought the car had rolled over and gone down the hill. People passed fast by car, all looking, some even laughed, I saw a woman on the passenger side smiling, just fascinated on the state the car was left. Crazy world we live on! Humans have such a fascination for accidents, they can be oblivious to many things, but when it is about people hurt and total wreckage they cannot help themselves. But I do believe in a few people who really make this world goes round. There were two women (mother and her daughter), that I later called them "Angels sent from Heaven" who were disposed to make all the calls necessary to help me out. They even offered something to drink and some biscuits (for it was late and I didn't have lunch yet, which was good or the food would be thrown out anyway by the shock). They told me they both had suffered car accidents, one of them when little daughter was only two years old. And thanks for the seatbelt (and especially from God) that I am here now to tell the stories. Here I leave some photos of the car I was in: Although only the automobile was under the influence of alcohol (I had just filled the tank full) oil was spread on the road, and there was still the danger of an explosion. The impact on my chest hit so strongly that I could not breath, and I had to leave the car to be able to restore some colours over my face. I have contusions and a long mark like a knife cut from the seatbelt on my chest and neck. That's why I always recommend to use it at all times!

Later on, when I felt strong enough to walk to the police station, I saw a man bringing a penguin that he found on the beach, yes, in a tropical weather. I caressed his head, and it was cold as an ice cube. I took out some sand from his right eye. I applied some REIKI energy over his body and talked to him saying, "We will both be all right!" The small penguin was so tired that it remained lied quietly inside the box, just waiting for the rural police to take it to be fed, wounds treated and then sent to the local Aquarium to later on (in two months) been taken back to Argentina. They are coming like thousands, swimming all the way up from Patagonia and reaching as further as the north of Brazil, victims of the global warming which has been debilitating the eco system and melting the ice cap in the poles. I even wrote an article for a magazine about that. Hope they publish it. I am really concerned about the way things are rapidly changing, and looking forward the day we will drive cars moved by magnetic fields or on trails not only for ecological reasons but for our own safety.

From Cheers to Chess

2008-07-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

Marcel Duchamp, French artist born from a traditional family of artists in the nineteenth century, on July 28th, was a revolutionary son of sun, a Leo, the king from the zodiac. He also used the rare name of Rrose Sélavy, but as odd as it sounded it was more than a pun, for it was something that in the French language could be transformed as a paraphrase "Eros, c'est la vie", which translates to English as "Eros, such is life". It has also been read or rather ready as an idiomatic expression such as "arroser la vie" which in English would mean "to make a toast to life".

In his late days Duchamp decided to devote the rest of his life on playing chess and he became so obsessed with its studies and schemes as much as the possible positions of each piece that some would say he dropped his artworks for good. He got the title of chess master, he performed his new art in the Olympiads of 1928 and 1933, and even played with the pioneer musician John Cage in an innovative process of exploring music using a series of photoelectric cells underneath each square of the chessboard which sounded in sporadic and spasmodic ways.

ENTRANCE(In Trance ENTREACT/EXTRACT

Powaqqatsi

2008-07-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Powaqqatsi means a sorcerer sucking out the life out of a body, or a parasitic way of life, like a zoombie transiting through life, in Hopi language. How many people live their own lives like Powaqqatsi?

In this movie by Italian director Godfrey Reggio, we can see how human beings are equal all over the world, how they react exactly the same in so many cultures, religions, places, or countries around this planet. It starts with the images of Serra Pelada, where workers like ants climb and descend a huge pile of people. Sebastiao Salgado, Brazilian photographer, also reflected that in his own lens. It also shows some parts of Santos, Cubatao and other big cities throughout the world. A Choreography of images no words would be able to describe, but only to watch and not to reflect about it would be a way of saying the name itself over and over again: Powaqqatsi

A Brazilian Artist Conquers Broadway

2008-07-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Actor Paulo Szot, winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading role in the musical "South Pacific" dedicates his Tony to all the Brazilian artists who struggle to survive and strive in the media for national and international re-cognition. He who, like me, spent his childhood in the small city of Ribeirao Pires, and wanted to be a dancer only to have his dream frustrated by a knee injury and decided to give a step further into his career when heard someone saying that he sang well. Now he has the whole musical theater world in his hand. He knows about the limitations that the artists in Brazil have to go through every day but to whom he openly sends his heart.

Thank YOU, Paulo!! So well deserved prize.

"A Terminal Episode"

2008-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I know at least one famous comedian who is not laughing today. At least, not today. One who I consider a great comedian must be mourning the death of another one with all his ingeniousness, George Carlin. What I really enjoyed of Carlin was his linguistic detours, being myself a tongue twister. I love acrostic too and to quote his own saying of if he died on a hospital he would have "A Terminal Episode" the acrostic "ATE" is a farewell word in Brazil which in Portuguese means, "See You"!! So see you, George. You know I hate farewell so much that I actually "ATE" them all... And as a ballerina I've got "two-too" to show respect to Carlin's memory:

"If your name was a footnote in American legal history, what would be the photo on your ID: A toe-nail?"

"If you "died" your hair, would that make your hair drop? And would you bury it in a hair style?" I know they were lame (I just in-vented them in a "Minute Made"), but I hope I can make you laugh the heck out of it.

So to stir and spur us to forget the tears, and cheer up a little bit (at least myself;) here below I leave what some of my other fellow writers have been saying about my writing (for instead of deleting I kept them to share to the world:)

"I've taken a look at your web sites and it seems that you are incredibly talented."
David Cole from Launceston, Tasmania

"I have taken some time to read your postings. You are an amazing writer! I will post some comments on your writing, but I just thought I would e-mail you and let you know I am now officially a fan. Do you have any writing available for purchase? Bookstores....Amazon.com...? Anyway, I'll stop now to avoid sounding like I am just blowing sunshine up your arse. I look forward to reading more of your writing. Dustin."

"Working on anything new? You can't keep a mind like yours all to yourself...Its just not fair to the rest of us here on earth."
Dustin Doornbos from Grand Rapids in Michigan

"In a fit of self-destructive pique I've recently decimated my collection with the "delete" command, but there's still a little left. And now I can explore your writing, since I truly enjoyed the small part of it I've seen."
Bill Kowalski from St. Louis, Missouri

"Keep that pen moving. Rock on..."
-Metal Mark from Tucson, Arizona

Soon I will have some very good news about my books (and more messages coming on my way:)

"I happened across your website, and I am awe-struck. I just want to say that you are one of the most talented and multi-faceted people I have seen.

Your choice of words is exhilarating, your book's preview is captivating, and on top of all that are you behind Lulu (and soon on Amazon and other major retailers!:)

I will have to look into it more, but from what I see already, compliments to you and the many roles you fill.

Happy Holidays.

Sincerely,

Shad Nunemaker"

"I am writing to you because I tell you, I was really impressed with your

diverse experiences. You have done some interesting stuff, plus you have

used the time you spent on this planet to include some of your life in your poetic works!

I am looking forward to reading more of them. (I only read the samples.)

You seem to me to be a wonderful,

substantial writer who has done so many enriching things with her life.

I am so proud of you. I mean this from my heart: I hope

more people can find out about you through

the promotion of this anthology. You are really inspiring!

Good luck to you!

Theresa McGriff "

Oscar Niemeyer (ON): GO+Old=GOLD!

2008-06-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I went to the museum of Beaux Arts here in Santiago to see Niemeyer who recently celebrated his 100th birthday. What I most enjoyed about the exhibition, besides wandering around the building, was to go inside a dark room and see a projection screen showing a video where Oscar (with a head as bald as his architecture in the sense of simplicity and functionality) tells with details about his life as architect and public figure. "Life is just a breath", a minute and gone. That's not exactly the message from his creation which seems to scream out loud that they're there to stay forever in the eye of the viewer. His global intentions are circular and round, as the curves the Universe is made and as nature itself. Oscar never won an Oscar (and believe him when he says he never intended to win a prize or praise) and his works are as golden spheres. Go see, they're all around the globe (with no pun intended, I swear!:)

Painting, Panting and Patting

2008-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've been checking some of my old presentations on TV and (Movie) Theatres which made me yearn for the past. I surely did a lot in the last couple of years, but nothing compares to what I have done through the last twenty years of my life.

"Write a hooking book,
Plant a tree near a brook,
Have a child
born to be wild..." Well, I wrote more than forty books, I've planted more than twenty trees over the last two years (thanks to my personal recycling deal) and that gives me what? The possibility of having at least ten children!! So I know there is so much more in the horizon for me. But just to contemplate the template ignites so many emotions that's almost impossible not to gasp for some air. And yet I have accomplished so much that I think it is OK to give yourself a pat on your back once in a lifetime. I also have been sharing those moments with cherished friends and I do feel awesome that they appreciate my efforts of turning back in time, or at least trying to freeze a little breeze that passed once through our lives. I am not being nostalgic the least (perhaps only a little romantic) that I simply like to offer a bouquet of precious memories that once experienced nothing can take away. Time passes, right. But a time well spent is a life well lived. And if remembering is to live, then I live to remember!

Photo Shooting

2008-06-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's pretty nice that Paulo Coelho, a worldwide celebrated writer, shows the step-by-step of how to make a cover. As models, we've been in so many photo sessions that it's hard to keep track of our works and we even take for granted all the hard work from measuring the light to keeping the model still, to have the patience to not scream to the person, "Don't move... Don't move, DON'T..." (Too late!;)

Talking about covers of magazines, I once was sitting in the VIP room of Lima's airport, waiting for my plane (from Varig airlines) when I saw a magazine... and look who was on the cover?? Only my favourite author!! (And he would never guess, magician as he is;) then, my plane arrived, and what was my surprise when I saw him descending from the same plane that I was about to catch. Tell me about synchronicity! It was in 1998 and the magazine I was reading had an interview about Paulo Coelho's upcoming visit to Peru. I don't need to mention that when I saw him walking in the landing lane I started to jump like crazy (or like a bunny groupie, as his last name itself means Rabbit) and yelling I called him, "Paulo Coelho, Paulo Coelho". I swear you I thought he had heard me screaming at the top compartment and through the sound-proof windows, as I saw him stepping towards my direction. Then a big woman (I wonder if she was his agent) grabbed his arm and redirected him to the exit. At least I can sing the FADO (Fate) that I was once THIS close to him... To quote Maxwell Smart, "It was this close!"

Made In Heaven

2008-06-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

This movie is about two souls whose marriage was literally "Made in Heaven", in a romantic comedy (a genre which I love) so amazingly written, beautifully arranged and so true that I had tears in my eyes when it finished. The message is "You can find true love... Have faith!" A message that I once seem to have received from my own true Love...

Just as I think with my heart, I feel with my mind.
Cause let's face it: Love is not blind!

But I am actually in ecstasy right now for I finally found out that my new book is on the way within the hands of the editor-in-chief for Divine Destinies... And what a divine destiny that is.

Into The Wild

2008-06-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

I've read the book (the one with black and white cover) a year before this movie was shot. That cover caught Sean Penn's attention. It was a photo of a bus covered in snow. I only thought when I finished the book how good a movie could this be, for I so had in my mind's eye the whole picture, with so many attention to details, so very well described, filled with nuances not only from the inner and outer nature (in both senses, human and by the environment) but very well written as a sentiment, it feels how much this true story touched the author Jon Krakauer. The actor Emile Hirsch as the main character plays with distinction his role as the young Chris McCandless who left everything, family, friends, and an apparent flawless life to live into the wild. Awesome photography and direction, as well as the screenplay which held very truthful to the original text. Many Kudos for the first time director Sean Penn.

San Francisco Spells

2008-06-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

"If you are going to San Francisco..."
Scott McKenzie

"I left my heart in San Francisco."
Louis Armstrong

"(...)every gesture there has a meaning
(...) may feel your whole body screaming"
Village People

"Luna de San Francisco,
que la noche iluminó,
sólo hay una religión,
música y amor."
Paloma San Basilio

"(...) a place, where love begins
a certain town I left my heart in.

San Francisco love is all around
San Francisco you've never let it down."
Olsen Brothers

Birds and Boats

2008-06-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

Ana is thrilled to have someone's offering to buy a signed print of one of her artworks (it will be a hit in the South of England:) that now she's even considering making an exhibition. She always keeps her original, hoping someday she will be actually famous enough, and her family could make some profit. All for the sake of her heritage. Anyway, artists are often known for putting their faces in everything they create. Can you see her face in the painting? The original is a coloured ink in a couchet paper, with mostly shades of blue and grey:

TIME

2008-06-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

"On ne peut pas definir le temps" Klein

No, it was not Calvin Klein who said that, but Etienne Klein whom I recently watched the interview on the TV program "Una Belleza Nueva" hosted by my ex-teacher of Literature, Mr. Christian Warken, a great character from Chile. The last time I met him I screamed with my strong accent, "Professor!" He looked at me and smiled. He even made me read my poem in French for the other students. As I recall it was the first time I shared my poems with people in such a intimate contact of looking directly to my public's eyes. Well, I talked at conferences, I dance, I perform at the theatres, I see the public looking at me, but this time it was different, special, for I was peeling myself, revealing the deep inside of me, and it was an exhilarating sensation. I saw tears and smiles, and the reaction of my words on others.

I once read "Time is an Illusion" but after viewing this interview I am doubting it. Time really does exist. What we do with our lives is what will measure the precise order and establish the limits. You are as old as you think you are, time passes, yes, but how you use it tells much more of who and where you are in your age than any other passage or presage. Here a comment of mine about time well spent:D

Time sounds so sweet and divine
When you listen to Etienne Klein:

Etienne Klein-temps
Uploaded by reserbat

Velazquez's Birthday

2008-06-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

Isn't that formidable that GOOGLE keeps recreating its own logo with figures, paintings, and whatever creative way to commemorate dates and fates? That gives me inspiration to write more and more about great personalities in the WHO (World History Orbitation:) Goggle left the G engulfing the painter, a semi O appears in the reflection (but for my perspective it could well be the letter E in the end;) and the other O got lost inside the mirror in one of the many Velazquez's self portrait, his masterpiece "The Maids of Honour" or in its original "Las Meninas" simply "The Girls". I saw it when I went to the Museum of Prado in Madrid. It's a huge painting, it covers the whole wall. What intrigues most in this painting, at least for my point of view, it's not so much that he is inside, probably looking at the mirror, to paint himself as a reflection of the whole scene, which is not what is exposed there but the subtle nuance reflecting inside the mirror, that he was actually there inside his studio, his models were nothing more nothing less that the Spanish king and queen. And that is what makes it so fascinating. That he makes his own viewers the royalty themselves. For if you are the one in front of the painting, YOU are the one being recreated in that canvas in front of him. How ingenious this is! And he is also accompanied by the infant, the royal child with a fainted smile in her face. There is so much he transpose from her, and also so much going on around that's hard to believe he could feel so at ease as he makes it appear. After all, he was elected as the royal painter. And how burden did that represent as well.

World Environment Day

2008-06-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

The WE Day
"We are not apart from Nature.. we are part of Nature"

Today is the World Environment Day and this date started a long time ago. This year's slogan is "CO2, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy."

Enhance your day with awareness about e-facts.
Come up with durable and plausible solutions.
Or Plant a tree (or many trees!:)
Now Recycle more...
Open a eco-store or work in a garden.
Mainly avoid using electricity or shut it asap
Insist on economy of water, energy supplies
Avoid driving, prefer public transportation, or even better, use a bicycle.

Let's give a possibility of a clean environment for our own generation!:)

Besides recycling everything, separating each material (plastics, cans, papers, tetrapaks, etc, etc) and getting them on a recycle center near home, I also use a medium tank in the shower so that I may recycle water as well. This way I flush the toilet, or I use it to water the garden, also recycle the seeds, and all vegetables left-overs, making compounds. In this matter I have now more than fifteen trees, small and big, to beautify my terrace, and that's only for I live in an apartment...or I would have an organic farm by now!

Ana is celebrating the World Environment Day by planting trees in her own terrace with the hope it will help combat the greenhouse effect during winter.

Orbs in San Francisco

2008-06-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

I took some pictures of the Golden Gate and The Rock (Alcatraz Island) and what was my surprise when I noticed there were many orbs in there. I mean, that's a place where much have happened, but that there were so many of what I personally call "orbiting round-bounded spirits" all around the area, that's huge. See it for yourself (Click on the pics to see bigger trails with more details:)
Some would say that's just the effect that digital cameras sometimes expose, I give the benefit of doubt, the one I used was brand-new, I just had bought it there. And if it was the case of water spots or dust on the lens, I would not have normal photos in a sequence of photos from the same camera and location as I had shown up here. All of the shots in this sequence should have the dust or the fog in it. The orbs did not appear in consecutive photos, some had them and some just didn't. And period. Case closed. For there is more on earth and heaven than even the most trained eye couldn't explain. And if there is something that catches my attention are those circles that appear to float, hovering over some particular areas where seem to derive an eerie atmosphere.
More photos with orbs on my site:
http://www.geocities.com/AnnaClaudiaAntunes/Orbes.htm

Ascension in a Balloon

2008-06-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's been two hundred and twenty five years since the two brothers, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, presented for the first time their invention in France. It was a balon a l'air chaud, or the hot-air balloon. Although the Brazilian born in the same city as I, in Santos, the Portuguese priest and navigator Bartolomeu de Gusman had already launched his light-than-air airship design some seventy-four years earlier. He wrote a description of his invention "Manifesto summario para os que ignoram poderse navegar pelo elemento do ar"- a Short Manifesto for those who are unaware that is possible to sail through the element air, published in 1709, in Vienna, and another one that was lost was found in the Vatican in 1917. Such as Santos Dumont, another Brazilian, who designed, built and flew the first practical dirigible balloons, was also the first aviator, though they proclaim the Wright Brothers invented the first plane. And Dumont was the one who committed suicide when he found out that his invention was used to make war.

But it's been a month and a half and still no sign of another Brazilian priest, de Carly, who took off using helium balloons. In a noble cause, he was trying to raise funds to charity by establishing a world record of flight, he got lots amidst the heavy winds, and he probably went down somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I pray that he had encountered a safe haven, or as time goes by, it's more certain that he found a place in Heaven now.

Out of the closet

2008-06-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

(Off-the-wall characters happening in the closest wall or/and closet:)

Wondering why his food disappeared in his own house, a man who lived by himself installed a camera surveillance. What was his surprise to find out that a woman was living in his house, inside a closet. She even had a mattress there.

"Out of my closet," the man yelled to her. After all, she had been living there for almost a year without his knowledge.

That seems too fantastic to be true, but this actually happened in Japan, and the woman was caught in flagrant four days ago. How many quotidian stories we may find throughout the world. That's why I wrote a new book based upon extraordinary tales occurring to routinary lives:

One Hundred One World Accounts
A Preview: http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=2565057

World No Tobacco Day

2008-05-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

There is a saying that goes something like this, "You can smoke your life away" also, "Smoking is a daily deadly threat." I should rather say, "If you smoke you just joke... with your own life!" Smoky! But so true: That's now a fact that the effect of both active smoking and second-hand smoking is on the rise in the risk of breast cancer. (See the complete article I wrote for a Health Webzine in the link below:)
http://www.naturalhealthweb.com/articles/Bowlova1.html

A couple of old, old friends (I've known them for ten years, and they are ten years older than I) were about to move from their house. So two days ago, I was invited in their home for a get together there for the last time. They are both active smokers. But they knew how I hate smoking. Nevertheless, they each smoked more than two cigarettes in less than an hour that I had myself suffocated. In the end, I left the place with my hair and clothes smelling like a furnace. I had them in my house once and they were nice enough to ask me if they could smoke, I said yes, as long it was outside. But this last time, I was in their own house, they knew they would make me feel grasping for clean air, but they simply didn't care. Or couldn't they remember how much smoke bothers others who don't smoke? If they didn't seem to care for their own daughter who was there simply to serve their guests and who had already fought leukaemia when she was a newborn baby. I was polite enough to fight the idea of screaming at them about abusive relationships and mild, nonetheless, abominably shameful child slavery and also resist the impulse to just jump outside, cracking, or even crashing against the closed windows of their living room. Not so sure if next time someone does that, for even five minutes puffing to my face smokes and pokes in ferocious strokes for atrocious chokes, I will react in such a civilized manner. After all, it IS my health that they are putting in jeopardy as well. And who gives them the right to incur someone into such misery of feeling breathless? Tobacco should be permanently banned from the world market, once and for all, for the good of ALL! I still have them as my old friend, although if they do not consider changing their habits AND ATTITUDES, they will insanely wane with this bane and before their very own eye, not to mention that I won't be visiting them too often to avoid risking getting cancer from mindless smokers.
(Blessed Be the Day with No Tobacco in the World!:)