This is my first Journal and so i´ve been delaying it because i wanted to write about things that aren't ordinary. Now is the time. There are three subjects, the first is 'Alice', a portuguese movie, the second is the concert of Sigur Rós and the other are the books from Christopher Paolini, Eragon and Eldest, of his Inheritance Trilogy.


'Alice'...

...a movie about a father's search of his missing 4 years old daughter, about a torn to pieces mother, that fed on pills to keep her breathing another day, feeling her sanity fade each hour, day, that passed without her daughter's presence in her arms because she never had left her mind and won't ever leave her heart.
One scene that won't ever leave my mind and during which i couldn't help sheding a tear, was one that he´s standing at the entrance of a Subway station, arms wide open like he´s going to hug someone, but instead he had flyers on both hands saying, 'Alice Desapareceu' or 'Alice is missing' or something close, with a description of her the day she disappeared. There he stood, desperate, hopeless, but he wouldn´t give up, nobody, not one person took a flyer, he wasn´t there, people just ignored him... (sigh) I wished then, to see his little one running into his arms and that this story would have a happy ending.
This movie would be just another dramatic story if it wasn't based on a true story. Both director and lead actor had interviews which took several hours with Filomena Teixeira, the mother of the missing Rui Pedro.
Rui Pedro disappeared about 7 and half years ago, back then it was a mediatic case, Filomena was interviewed several ocasions by TV channels and magazines, now it´s just another unsolved case like, unfortunatly, others in our country. Filomena is currently receiving treatment at a psychiatric hospital, Magalhães Lemos, here in Oporto, what a strong person she is, i can only imagine the pain she as and had to endure all this time. She's beautifull, her skin white as ivory, big blue eyes, she didn´t deserve this but... who does? I wish i could do something, even bear some of her pain...
Rui Pedro is or would be 18 now...

Here are some links about the movie and Rui Pedro
[link] Police page for missing persons.
[link] 'Alice' the movie


Sigur Rós: The concert at the Oporto Coliseum


I hadn't listen to any of Sigur Rós themes for 3 weeks, so i could attend the concert and listen to their music like it was the first time. Don´t ask me the line up, i didn´t care and really dont remember.
Before the concert started, a thin and semi-transparent curtain descended from above, separating the stage from the audience. Then stage lights were turned on and the band members entered the stage, the curtain 'emprisoned' the shadows of the band projected by the lights, creating a somewhat holographic image, it was beautifull and thus they played the first theme. Seconds before they started to play, anticipation and anxiety gave me shivers, like a sudden drop of temperature had hapened. By the end of the first song i was in a transe, only broke by the clapping and cheers of the audience, i clapped by instinct but doing it broke my concentration, i didn´t do it again.
Minutes passed, though they felt like hours, two young girls in front of me, leaned their heads towards each other shoulder moving softly in a transe.
Another song, this one i love, i closed my eyes. They say that a blind man as his others senses enhanced i thought, so i tested the theory. I opened my eyes, after a while, a tear run down my face and then another. I didn't dare to look around afraid that someone could tell the way i was feeling. One of the two guys in front of me, was embracing himself like huging someone that was invisible to me, but maybe it was real to him. Another tear run down my face, as i too, would like to be holding someone... she was so near and yet unreachable...
Another song and another stream of tears down my face, i only dared look up at the balcony, imagining that if we could fly, there would be a rain of tears. This song is so powerfull and the girls from Amina played those strings like they knew that they could make a stone cry. I close my eyes again, sadness and pain takes over me as i remember the bad and sad things that happened to me, the loss i suffered these last 8 months, sometimes i feel like i won't be happy again. Streams of random thoughts of people that i knew and pet animals that i loved, and are no more, rushed to my brain, i wished then i had been a better person to them... i still do... And to those that still are in this world that i hurt uncousciencely, i´m truely sorry...
I whished also that my dearest friends and family would be there to enjoy the music with me... because i didn't felt only pain but joy also because thats the way Sigur Rós music is and should be felt, sad and joyfull at the same time...
Almost midnight, almost two hours had past since they began to play, my injured knee aches, my legs are tired as i've walked with the help of crutches for 2 months now.
The curtain drops again. They'll play their last song and then it will be over, i should concentrate cause i don´t wanna loose a single note. The song gets more intense each second, images are projected in the curtain hiding breafly the shadows caught by it. And then it was over... i woke up from the transe.
It was the first time that i saw Sigur Rós perform live, all i can say was that Jonsi gave all he had. The sound was very near to perfect, though Jonsi's guitar was inaudible sometimes.


Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini

I read both books in about 10 days, i had plenty of time available, besides the story is very good and adictive.
Briefly, it's the storie of an ordinary young man that with time learns that his life won't be nothing of ordinary. The story has all the ingredients to make it an epic. Humans, Dwarves, Elfs, Urgals, Dragons, beasts, strange creatures and so on;
Honor, Loyalty, Nobility, Respect, Courage, Master/Aprentice relationship, Humility, Friendship, Betrayal, Religion, Love, Hate, Family, etc
About religion, the author cleverly brings up the question of the need to believe in something or someone above us, superior to everything.
Sometimes i felt related to the main caracter dilemas and problems, remembering the values i lived by until today and, due to certain circumstances, i neglected.
I recomend their reading from the youngest to the eldest.


Well that's my first and quite extensive journal.

Anything i forgot and find worthy of mention, i'll add it later.

P.S. I have an image of the concert that i took but i don't know how to add it.