David Lynch fotografado por Daniel Augusto

No ano passado, eu tive a oportunidade de conversar por um bom tempo com o diretor de cinema David Lynch em sua casa. Na ocasião, apresentei-me como um jovem cineasta, e ele fez a gentileza de encaminhar grande parte da nossa entrevista como uma espécie de “Cartas a um jovem poeta”, no qual deu uma série de conselhos, e revelou alguns bastidores de seu processo criativo, com objetivo de iluminar as dúvidas e os impasses que cercam a configuração de qualquer obra artística.

Empolgado com a oportunidade, eu – cineasta que tinha recém-chegado à dança por conta do amor pela linda bailarina, e também pela possibilidade de jogar-se num desconhecido que já havia me dado algumas das mais fortes experiências estéticas da vida – perguntei-lhe qual seria a relação entre o cinema e a dança.

Lynch disse várias coisas, mas uma delas guardei em especial: “o cinema é uma arte do movimento no tempo, assim como a dança”.

Eis que agora essa frase retorna insistentemente, durante os ensaios de “Darkland”. Como organizar o movimento e o tempo dessa dança?

Temos uma pesquisa que relaciona dança e moda. As bailarinas devem descobrir movimentos do corpo a partir de 3 elementos que vêm do vestuário: na cabeça, uma máscara que quase prende o rosto; no tronco, um corset que delimita a postura; nos pés, gigantescos sapatos que desenham o andar.  3 partes do corpo, 3 elementos do vestuário: tudo isso combinado cria uma movimentação singular, que é uma das pesquisas desse “Darkland”.

Mas resta saber que tempo criar. Como esculpir o tempo de um corpo transformado pelos acessórios que o vestem? Talvez algo relacionado ao cinema possa responder.

O cinema moderno tem direta relação com o tempo. Não o tempo objetivo, quantitativo  e cronológico dos relógios, da vida social e da ciência. O cinema é onde pode descortinar-se o tempo subjetivo, qualitativo, que é o único tempo que realmente dá sentido à nossa experiência. Na tela, como na vida, um segundo pode durar horas, e horas podem durar um segundo.

Mas existem muitas formas de tempo subjetivo, e “Darkland” se propõe a falar de uma delas: o tempo dos sonhos.

E – de novo – recorro ao cinema. Em essência, ver filmes é uma espécie de sonhar. Um sonho de olhos abertos. No entanto, existem cineastas que vão além: eles conseguem traduzir os mecanismos dos nossos sonhos de olhos fechados para a tela grande, como o próprio Lynch (e talvez por isso a conversa com ele esteja tão presente em mim neste momento).

Num sonho, duas pessoas podem ser uma só, e uma mesma pessoa pode cindir-se em duas ou mais. Um pouco como as bailarinas de “Darkland”: cada uma delas é ela mesma e a outra.  Iguais  e diferentes, como um duplo.

Quem gosta do assunto, sabe que a idéia do duplo fascina as artes em geral. Aparece na literatura fantástica (por exemplo, em Poe, Hoffmann), no cinema (Kieslowski, o próprio Lynch), e muito mais.  Também está em várias culturas (como na lenda germânica do “doppelgänger”), e foi tema até da psicanálise, num ensaio de Freud, “O estranho” (título pelo qual foi traduzido em português o texto “Das Unheimliche”).

E é com esse ensaio que acho que podemos dar – nessa etapa – mais um passo na construção dessa “Darkland” (mesmo que a psicanálise, quando fala da arte, muitas vezes fale mais de si mesma).

Segundo o pai da psicanálise, a idéia do duplo originalmente era uma garantia contra a morte. Por exemplo, quando uma criança investe uma boneca com sua identidade (afinal, como ele diz, “as crianças não temem que suas bonecas adquiram vida, podem até desejar que elas tenham vida” ). Assim, numa fase da criança, diz o autor, a boneca pode ser um amuleto da vida.

Só que, na opinião de Freud, quando a criança supera a etapa do narcisismo primário,  o duplo deixa de ser uma garantia de imortalidade, e torna-se um “estranho anunciador da morte”. Aí, o duplo vira um objeto de terror, algo que gera um efeito de “estranho” (falo entre aspas pois a palavra original em alemão, “unheimliche”, é muito mais rica, pois pode designar tanto algo assustador, como algo familiar).

“Darkland” é um lugar familiar e estranho. Um lugar onde pode parecer que existe certa segurança e proteção (seu lado familiar), mas que também pode esconder segredos terríveis (seu lado assustador). Como num certo tipo de romance inglês do século XVIII, no qual o passado parece persistir no presente, dentro dos papéis de parede, respirando como uma presença ausente (aquele tipo de presença que se sente sem ver).

As duas mulheres que habitam esse lugar são seres humanos e bonecas, singulares e  idênticas, iguais e diferentes, São como reminiscências da infância, do passado, justapostas num universo onírico, onde – como eu disse – duas pessoas podem ser uma só, ou uma mesma pessoa pode tornar-se várias.

Esta pesquisa é um passeio por aquele lugar obscuro que todos conhecemos, mas que não nos lembramos mais.  Uma garantia da vida, um anúncio da morte, transfigurados em tempo e movimento.

Como um sonho. Ou um pesadelo.

Escrito por Daniel Augusto

- por Bernardo Brum

Por esse filme, que fique claro: ninguém filmou ou filma, atualmente, o inferno astral da forma que Roman Polanski faz. Saído do sucesso de Chinatown, o atormentado Polanski, com o recente brutal assassinato da sua esposa, Sharon Tate, praticamente prenunciou o novo escandâlo que iria abater sobre a sua carreira em 1977 envolvendo substâncias ilícitas e pedofilia com o esquizofrênico O Inquilino. Adentramos aqui, as dimensões retorcidas, claustrofóbicas e invariavelmente depressivas da mente genial do diretor franco-polaco.

Mas claro que, além de errôneo, é um tanto castrador reduzir a obra a uma previsão de desgraça vindoura – apesar que não deixa de ser tentador ver como perdura em sua obra um sentimento de fatalismo poucas vezes igualado no cinema. A história de Trelkovsky, um corretor de seguros polonês que consegue um emprego novo na França e aluga um apartamento de uma moça – Simone Choule – que havia se jogado da janela de seu prédio, que lentamente entra em um ciclo de esquizofrenia e neurose não é nada mais que uma desculpa de Polanski para jogar o espectador em um universo sinistro, incoerente e incompreensível, de dar orgulho a cineastas italianos como Mario Bava, um mestre na arte de usar o desconhecido para elevar tudo ao mais puro e  perturbador surto desassociativo.

Mais do que  sua preferência temática pelo apartamento, pelas grandes cidades e a forma que afetam seus indivíduos – seja no tocante ao desejo reprimido, em Repulsa ao Sexo, quanto à velha fascinação pelo obscuro em O Bebê de Rosemary, o diretor fez de O Inquilino algo que conjuga tudo isso ao mesmo tempo – o sexo, o demônio, Sigmund Freud e Aleister Crowley infectam cada milímetro de película de forma irremediável e violadora. Pouco a pouco, Trelkovsky se vê obrigado a fumar os mesmos cigarros que Simone Choule, andar com as mesmas companhias, tomar o mesmo café da manhã, enfrentar as mesmas adversidades, aguentar os mesmos vizinhos suspeitos… Estaria ele lentamente tornando-se outra personalidade?

Esse é outro ponto importantíssimo da obra – talvez o principal: a desconstrução da personalidade, a certeza terrível que não sejamos tão únicos como pensamos, e que sim, grandes traumas são capazes de deixar personalidades em migalhas, devolvendo o “ser” humano ao aspecto de carne e nada mais, e explorando uma questão importante para muitos artistas: já que não somos únicos, deve haver o duo, nosso oposto assustadoramente próximo, sempre perto de nós, oculto nas sombras da mente.

A partir de certo momento, o trabalho que vai além de psiclogização pesada – está mais para desassociação pesada – acaba por invadir o espectador: onde termina Trelkovsky e começa Simone Choule? Onde termina Polanski e começa Trelkovsky? Até que ponto nós somos nós e Polanski é Polanski? Outro terrível recado do pessimista diretor – após anos e anos de papo de “paz e amor”, “comunhão espiritual”, descobrimos uma terrível verdade: estamos mais próximos do que gostaríamos.

E é naquela hora, na mais escura das noites, sozinhos em um quarto, que um simples olhadela lá fora nos transfigura – no bizarro, no desejo repulsivo, na carne que não faz distinção. No inquilino não de Monsieur Zy, mas o inquilino, o hospedeiro da encarnação de Simone Choule – a desgraça como um parasita irresistível. E se, talvez, só nos reste o mesmo destino?

5/5

Ficha técnica: O Inquilino (Le Locataire/The Tenant) – EUA/França, 1976. Dir. Roman Polanski Elenco: Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Shelley Winters

Bob The Builder Lego Building Sets At The Lowest Prices

Lofty and Dizzy Hard at Work #3597

Muck Can Do It #3596

Scoop At Bobland Bay #3595

This is a very interactive banner ad for Duplo that I encountered on a blog.

The ad as you see it before you interact with it:

Once you move your mouse over the image, it opens up and you see this:

You click on one of the little check boxes and the next question automatically loads.  It looks the same (except for the words boy or girl and the pronouns) for both genders:

Again, you click on one of the check boxes and automatically get the next question, which looks the same no matter what:

A third time you click a check box and a new question loads, looking the same no matter what:

Now you pick a color and see this screen ( the blocks keep getting added and when they are all the way across, the next screen appears):

Finally, you get your results!  Now, in theory, there should be 32 possible results because there are 32 different combinations of answers.  That does seem like a lot to ask from a banner ad, but you’d still expect a fair number of possibilities, given the amount of customization concerning the child, right?

Here are all of the possible results:

All combinations including the “3 Years or Under” option get this result, regardless of what other information is given:

Combinations with “Over 3 Years” and a favorite color of “Red” or “Yellow” gets this result:

And combinations with “Over 3 Years” and favorite colors of “Blue” or “Green” gets this result:

And that’s it.  Those are all of the possible results.  I noticed that most of the toys pictured throughout the questions were not in the results (unless there’s a horse on that school bus and a bridge for the fire truck to save or something).

This seems like it could be a really cool piece of marketing – answer a few simple questions and get some cute toy ideas, but it kind of fails.  First of all, the results often didn’t even feel like they were related to the information that was input.  For example, why is the recommendation for a “soft spoken” little kid who likes yellow a bright red fire truck?  Duplo makes a pretty wide variety of toys, it seems like it should have been possible to do this kind of ad without it falling flat like this one did.   I love the idea of this ad (especially going into the holiday season), but this one just really felt disappointing.  Even if the end result was a “click here to see your results” link that took you to an appropriate page of the Duplo website with suggestions, that would be better.  That could be more customized and have more varied and actually customized results.  This just felt like someone had a good idea and then gave up before fully implementing it, and that’s disappointing.

A briga pelo título ainda está aberta, ainda mais se formos nos recordar da heróica arrancada do Hexa. E para relembrar esta grande conquista a SÃO PAULO MANIA abaixou o preço do DVD Duplo – São Paulo Hexa!

O DVD que antes custava R$69,90 agora está por R$49,90. Uma grande oportunidade de adquirir o documentário do inédito Hexa Campeonato Brasileiro.

Este documentário conta toda a trajetória da conquista, com entrevistas exclusivas com os principais atletas e comissão técnica e cenas inéditas.

Além do DVD documentário, você ainda conta com o segundo disco com todos os gols dos últimos três títulos brasileiros (2006, 2007, 2008), para você sempre se orgulhar de ser o único clube brasileiro a vencer a competição por três vezes consecutiva, e quem sabe vem a quarta aí!

Compre já o seu DVD Duplo – São Paulo Hexa aqui!

If you’ve paid attention to any of the multitude of LEGO blogs, forums and photo sharing sites lately, you’ve probably started hearing rumors or seeing thumbnails of what will be available in 2010. Several of the much talked about themes are the new LEGO Toy Story, Prince of Persia, and Atlantis. Although I like to see the newest sets as soon as possible. sometimes the thumbnail images are so small and blurry that its almost not even worth trying to decipher what they are supposed to be.

At a recent sponsored event in Russia called Festival Rossiyskogo Fan Forum LEGO Alexander posted pictures of some of the 2010 sets that LEGO displayed.

Update: Looks like all the images were taken down. I guess we’ll just have to wait a little to see the official images.

He took several pictures. From what I saw, 2010 is going to be another great year for LEGO.

Von Thomas und seine Feunde gibt es neue Themen von Lego Duplo Eisenbahn. Mit den neu erschienen Sets kann das Starterset der Lego Duplo Eisenbahn kombiniert und ausgebaut werden. Die Duplosteine sind für Kinder im Alter von 2 bis 5 Jahren gedacht.

Duplo 5547 James trifft den dicken Kontrolleur
Bei seiner Fahrt durch die Stadt trifft James seinen guten Freund, den dicken Kontrolleur. Beide freuen sich sehr, sich nach einer langen Reise wiederzusehen. Die enthaltene Figur hat einen hohen Wiedererkennungswert mit der Trickfilmserie von Thomas und seinen Freunden und ist besonders bei jüngeren Baumeistern sehr beliebt. Das Set basiert auf der Geschichte The Great Discovery. Im Set James trifft den dicken Kontrolleur hat es eine leuchtende rote Lokomotive James, einem Waggon, den dicken Kontrolleur, DUPLO Steine und einer Blume. James und der Waggon sind zusammen 19,1 cm lang und 6,4 cm breit.

5546 Thomas in der alten Mine
Während eines Ausflugs auf der Insel Sodor entdeckt Thomas eine verlassene Mine. Dort warten jede Menge Abenteuer auf Thomas und seine Freunde! Eisenbahntunnel enthalten. Die Steine regen die Fantasie jüngerer Baumeister an. Das Set basiert auf der Geschichte The Great Discovery. Das Set Thomas in der alten Mine enthält Thomas, den Tunnel zur alten Mine, DUPLO Steinen und Blumen. Das gesamte Lego Duplo Set aus der Serie Thomas und seine Freunde entält 22 Teile. Der Tunnel ist mit den DUPLO Eisenbahnschienen kompatibel. Die alte Mine ist 25,4 cm lang, 22,9 cm breit und 12,7 cm hoch. Thomas ist 9,5 cm lang, 6,4 cm breit und 10,2 cm hoch.

5545 Stanley in Great Waterton
Stanley ist die neueste Lokomotive auf der Insel Sodor. Als hilfsbereiter Freund von Thomas begleitet er ihn bei seinen vielen aufregenden Abenteuern. Stanley ist eine ganz besonders begabte Lokomotive und schließt schnell Freundschaft mit Thomas. Mit Stanley und DUPLO Steinen, die zu einem Torbogen und einer Blume zusammengebaut werden können.
Die Steine regen die Fantasie jüngerer Baumeister an. Stanley ist 9,5 cm lang, 6,4 cm breit und 9,5 cm hoch.

Das gesamte Sortiment von Thomas und seine Freunde von Lego Duplo Eisenbahn können Sie bei kinder-online-shop.ch kaufen.

Fonte: Site Oficial

O DVD do filme Nada Vai Nos Separar – Os Cem Anos do Sport Club Interncional, alcançou a primeira colocação no ranking nacional de vendas de filmes da Livraria Cultura. Ou seja, em todo o País, o DVD Duplo do filme que conta o primeiro século de vida do Inter é o mais procurado e mais adquirido.

Não bastasse este sucesso de vendas, na 15ª posição do mesmo ranking, figura o DVD simples do filme. Sucesso total do filme colorado!

Compre o DVD simples “Nada vai nos separar”!

Compre o DVD Duplo “Nada vai nos separar”

Vielleicht verstehe ich ja von Werbung wirklich nichts, aber in der Regel sind doch die Produkte scheisse und Werbung soll sie uns “schmackhaft” machen, oder? Oft klappt das ja auch. Ich hab zahlreiche Produkte, die totaler Schrott sind, zu deren Kauf mich aber mein (von einschlägigen Werbebotschaften gestörtes) Unterbewusstsein genötigt hat. Meine Zahnbürste mit Zungenscharber, Schwingkopf und unterschiedlich langen Borsten zum Beispiel. Oder die Flasche Cillit Bang, die unbenutzt unter der Spüle versauert. Im ernst, ich weiß nicht mal was das für Zeug ist, aber was “Cillit Bang” heißt, kann so schlecht nicht sein!
Umso erstaunlicher, dass es eine Firma gibt, die ihr Produkt nahezu perfektioniert hat und dazu Werbung abliefert, die so schlecht ist, dass man sich für das Gutfinden des Produkts schämt. Die Rede ist von “Ferrero”. Die Werbung von Ferrero ist so peinlich, dass ich mir freiwillig eine Coupé am Kiosk kaufe und laut aus den Kontaktanzeigen vorlese, nur damit keiner merkt wie ich mein Duplo in der Tasche verstaue…
Der Schokoladen-Gigant hat ganz offensichtlich zwei Abteilungen. In der ersten Abteilung arbeiten geniale Wissenschaftler, denen die Jobs bei der NASA zu anspruchslos waren. Sie widmen ihr Leben der Erfindung von Schokoriegeln und Nougat-Mischungen. Sie haben das Nutella-Rezept erfunden, den Kinder-Riegel gebaut und die Rocher-Kugel mit kleinen Nussstückchen gepimpt. Sie könnten auch Mittel gegen Krebs und Haarausfall erfinden, aber dafür reicht leider die Zeit nicht. Haare werden überschätzt.
Die zweite Abteilung ist zuständig für die kreative Vermarktung der Firma Ferrero. Sie haben den Klitschkos den Uni-Abschluss abgekauft und fanden das Wortspiel um die “längste Praline der Welt” genial. Die Mitarbeiter dieser Abteilung haben außerdem geheime Informationen über Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak an George W. Bush verkauft, Eko Fresh Songs geschrieben und betreiben einen Tretboot-Verleih in der Sahara.
Es ist schon eine Kunst, mit einer solchen Konstanz beschissene Werbung zu produzieren, wie die Firma Ferrero. Es ist umso erstaunlicher, dass trotz Fremdschämfaktor 1000, die Werbung bislang kein Image-Einbruch darstellte. Es muss die Vollkommenheit der Schokobons, das engelsgleiche Antlitz einer eiskalten Milchschnitte oder der unverkennbare, wunderschöne Ton sein, den ein Hanuta macht wenn man hineinbeißt, der uns über die kreativen Ergüsse der zweiten Abteilung hinwegsehen lässt.
Übrigens, was viele nicht wissen: Vor längerer Zeit befand sich Abteilung 1 auf einem Betriebsausflug. In dieser Zeit übernahm Abteilung 2 sämtliche Aufgaben des Konzerns. Das Ergebnis ist heute bekannt als “Mon Chéri”.

here's me, sweating in the January heat, with a baby I know -- I believe it was about 6:14 when this was taken

his sisters joined us for some Duplo-type block building

me, from a strange angle, looking rather alien

with my co-teacher, Mrs. Heo

Mr. Pak in the center of blurriness

South Korea 1150

an entrance to the market in Haman-Gaya

a chicken and beer place along the main strip of town

towards the outskirts of town

Haman bus terminal, next to the biggest grocery store in Haman -- they even have wholewheat bread!

some public art near Hongdae, in Seoul

more

more, still

fields of lotus flowers next to 15-storey apartment buildings -- such is Haman

sneaking up on Gunbuk elementary from behind

the view from the garden up the hill, still behind Gunbuk elementary

looking in the other direction -- that's Gunbuk High School in white

flooded rice fields

half of me winking

More next time.

For Papa and Piaf, Saturday morning is play time.

 For Piaf, of course, every morning is play time. That’s her job, that’s what she does. But for us as parents, weekday mornings are usually keep-her-safe-and-occupied-while-we-get-ready-for-work time. In spite of the impression I may have given yesterday , weekends in our house are low-key affairs. On Saturday and Sunday we take it in turns to lie in and the one who is not in bed has to make sure Piaf is sufficiently entertained that she will not unduly miss the parent who is.

 Saturday is my day.

 Keeping her entertained is all very well and not too hard after 18 months’ practice, but it is compounded by a moral obligation not to take the easy way out. After all, I sense she would happily watch back-to-back episodes of Trotro or Bumba, pausing only to say “gain” or “acor” when the DVD goes back to the start menu; but, sentimental fool that I am, I worry she will subconsciously feel this is unfair and reproach me for not interacting with her more (in fact, it is all I can do to get her attention for long enough to ask her to move more than six inches from the screen.)

 I also think that this is a golden opportunity for us to get several solid hours of Frenchness together (especially as we will often be going to French playgroup.)

 Here, then, is what I believe is called a negotiated agenda for this morning (all items to be confirmed according to mere whimsy and to whether I can turn the DVD off without promoting a tantrum.)

 6.30am – Wake up. Piaf is actually getting quite good at sleeping to a reasonable time during the week. It seems to go out of the window at weekends, especially on my mornings. Some days I like her less than others …

 6.31am – Milk. Nothing happens until the first milk feed of the day is provided.

 NOTHING.

 6.45am – Dressing. Key phrases – “Ouf! Elle est lourde, cette couche!” “Baisse tes jambes.” “S’il te plaît, baisse tes jambes.” “Baisse tes jambes, merde!” “Un bras, deux bras, abra-, cadabra!” And, after what seems an age, because it is, “Que tu es jolie!”

 7.00am – Pouring all the Duplo blocks over the floor.

 7.30am – When the Duplo is definitively finished with and Papa has put it all back in the box but not yet put the lid on, pouring all the Duplo blocks over the floor.

 7.40am – Pouring all the wooden blocks over the floor.

 8.00am – Reading and dancing. Piaf genuinely likes reading and playing with books in both languages. Once very fickle, often changing books or even wandering off part-way through a story, she is currently at the other extreme and will demand the same story again the second it is finished. Latest coup de cœur – Quand la forêt s’endort (she likes doing her owl impersonation which is very cute indeed.) In the background a DVD, asked for and then forgotten, may well be playing though, for the reasons above, I try not to do this at the weekend. If not, some execrable pop as previously confessed to will be playing – I am trying to teach her to twist but she is just not willing to put the work in.

 8.20am (and earlier, and later) – Pushing doll around in £5 toy buggy from Argos and saying “baby”. Fairly self-explanatory. Spin-offs include covering said doll with makeshift blankets.

 9.00am – Breakfast. Piaf likes cereals but she is very stubborn at the moment about feeding herself and does not really have the competence to do so with cereals. We will probably go to the café, therefore, where she can sit in a highchair, eat croissants and pannetone and ogle other babies. Might do some more reading, too, if the mood takes us.

 10.30am – Charity shops and library. The public library is excellent near us, and has plenty of space for children to run around without bothering anyone except their parents. There are bean bags to lie on, toys to play with, books to pull of the shelf while saying “book!” over and over … Piaf loves it. However, within ten minutes of arriving she will probably unleash a large and foul-smelling poo and we will have to cut short our visit so we can go home and change her. (Of course, 15 minutes earlier and I could have changed her in the café, but why plan ahead?)

 When we get home, maman is up, as well rested as a working parent can be and overjoyed to see her beautiful (if far from fragrant) little girl. Once changed (see “6.45am – Dressing“ above, adding the phrase, “ça schlingue!” as appropriate) she will want to go to slide and the day en famille begins in earnest.

 Reading back over that, I can see that, to the untrained eye, I might appear not to be entirely serious in places.

Honestly. You’d think I enjoyed it …

Com a constante evolução dos equipamentos, máquinas e automóveis, o uso de torquímetros torna-se cada vez mais frequente e necessário. Por isso, a Tramontina está lançando uma nova gama de torquímetros em sua linha PRO. Com tambor em liga de alumínio de alta resistência e cabeça em aço cromo molibdênio, o novo torquímetro de estalo da Tramontina PRO possui sistema de encaixe duplo, o que permite a aplicação de torque no sentido horário e anti-horário e é fabricado de acordo as normas ASME B107.14 e ISO 6789.

O produto está disponível em cinco modelos para encaixe de 3/8″, ½” e ¾” e com capacidades variando de 10 a 760 Nm, sendo ideal para uso em manutenção industrial e automotiva

Il seguente episodio risale all’estate scorsa. Il Berto si trovava in Spagna per una vacanza a Lloret de Mar insieme a Charly&Co. Durante una trasferta nella vicina Barcellona il nostro gruppo di sfaccendati turisti si trovò ad ammirare qualche tipica bellezza architettonica della città, che come tutti sanno deve molto all’opera di Gaudì.

Chi non deve proprio nulla al famoso architetto è, manco a dirlo, il nostro Bertini!

Per questo motivo, mentre la maggior parte del gruppo visitava l’interno della famosa Casa Milà [dichiarata nel 1984 patrimonio dell'umanità dall'UNESCO], Lui se ne stette fuori ad aspettare impaziente che svanisse l’effetto di quell’ inverosimile lampo di cultura che aveva colpito tutti gli altri ragazzi…

 ….e quando Carlo lo raggiunse dopo la visita della casa, gli altri assistettero ad una bizzarra richiesta: 

B:  “ Oh Carlo, un me l’hai riporto un Duplo? “

C:  ” Un Duplo?? Ma che dici?! “

B: ” Dio bestia, sei stato nella Casa di Cip&Ciop…me lo potevi anche riportare un Duplo! “

 Sorte non migliore toccò ad un’altra originale opera del celebre Gaudì, anch’essa patrimonio dell’umanità dal 2005: Casa Batlló.

 Una volta giunti davanti, il Berto urlò (vi ricordo che per lui urlare è il nostro parlare):

      ” oh indove m’avete porto?!?!…alla CASA DEI PAUERRENGE??? “

                                                                 (pauerrenge = Power Ranger)

Con queste due brevi osservazioni iniziò e si concluse la parte culturale della vacanza del Bertini. Alessio si rifiutò infatti di visitare la maestosa Sagrada Familia… anche per motivi ideologici e per giunta condivisibili, come l’ateismo (degenerato in blasfemismo nel caso del nostro Vate).

As you may have heard already Top Gear’s very own James May is embarking on a strange challenge of building a full size two-story house in the middle of Denbies Wine Estate, in Dorking entirely made of Lego pieces. More than three million Lego bricks have been delivered to the site and he is on the look out for volunteers to help him with the build. The house will be life-size with a staircase, toilet and shower, and May said once it was completed he intended to live in it for a few days. More info on the challenge can be found at: www.jamesmaystoystories.com

I have offered my assistance in the building process and i will be supplying my life size Duplo construction site. (I am joking i do not intend to lend him my life size Duplo construction team as they are busy building me a Duplo mansion..)

Who hasn’t dreamed of actually making a LEGO house? Well James May of the British show Top Gear (along with thousands of his countrymen) is actually doing it.

Rebecca Younger of Get Surrey (yes, that’s the name of the paper ) writes:

Queues stretched outside Denbies Wine Estate on Saturday – some people having arrived as early as 4.30am – with 1,200 of them given tickets to help the Top Gear presenter with his dream of building a life-size Lego home.

“We were only expecting 50 or 60 people to turn up,” May admitted when he spoke to Get Surrey at the vineyard.

“But I think people just really like the idea. When you’re a child there is so much you want to build but you can’t because you just don’t have enough bricks. Now I’m an adult I can have as much as I want.”

May plans to live in the two-storey house, which when finished will have a toilet, shower and low-level lighting, for a couple of days.

“I know they were a little worried about me going up the stairs but I’m happy to go upstairs and sleep.”

The whole project is being filmed for the BBC series James May’s Toy Stories, which has so far seen the presenter building a life-size model aeroplane and a garden from plasticine.

“Because of the intricacies of it all, because everything is being made of Lego they are carrying out lots of tests,” he said.

“There are people in the winery testing the floor beams and the furniture in the house.

“I can’t wait to see the finished product. I played with Lego when I was younger but have not really thought about it much since then but we’re really excited.

“My staff have turned into real Lego fanatics over the past couple of weeks.”

In another report it says that over three million bricks were delivered to the site. That may sound like a lot, but I know a thing or two about LEGO and I don’t know if it will be enough. I’m also wondering about the working bathroom. Everything else in the LEGO house is completely possible without altering the LEGO. Although sitting on a LEGO chair can be a little hard and uncomfortable — just think of all those knobs!

My first question when I heard of this was “are LEGO Master Builders involved in the construction?” From what I’ve read in the articles online, there is no mention of Master Model Builders at all, so that makes me curious. If I was the average person planning to make a LEGO house, would I consult the people that know exactly what they are doing with it?

When I read that they were planning on making a LEGO bathroom I got even more worried. The only problem with making a LEGO toilet or shower is that LEGO is not watertight. Even when it is glued LEGO has tiny cracks between each brick. So they will need something to fill in all the gaps or they just might have a problem . . .

Because I worked at LEGOLAND I’ve been on the inside large LEGO models (like the Volvo XZ90) and without some sort of insulation, the inside of a LEGO model is the same temp or on very sunny days, hotter then the outside. And without windows of some sort, it gets very dark inside a LEGO model.

In fact the more I think about the realistic logistics of actually living in a LEGO house for any length of time the less and less appealing it is. I mean I love LEGO, don’t get me wrong. But I also love sitting on a soft couch, sleeping on a soft mattress, and walking on carpeted floors.

Now if you wanted to be really fanatical about it I suppose it would be possible using only LEGO official parts to create some sort of insulation, cushions for a couch, and carpeting. If you go into Duplo products they actually have some soft, fabric elements for their little Duplo figures. Heck you could even use lots and lots of Minifig capes if you wanted, sew them together, and fill it with 1×1 round plates and make a bean-bag chair. But that’s getting into the utter ridiculous!

Still, in getting back to James May’s LEGO house, we shall just have to wait and see what the end result of this will be. I wish him good luck and happy building!

Um es gleich vorweg zu nehmen: der Titel ist ein infamer Diebstahl beim eine vorauseilende Hommage an das 11Freunde-Projekt “Spiele unseres Lebens“.

Die EM 1980 war die erste Europameisterschaft, die ich bewusst verfolgt habe. Turniermäßig begann es eigentlich schon mit der WM 78, aber aus aktuellem Anlass, der weiter unten zur Sprache kommt, befasse ich mich zunächst einmal mit der 80er Endrunde – im Rückblick traut man sich kaum, von einem “Turnier” zu sprechen, wenn man an die gerade mal vier Spiele der Finalteilnehmer denkt, die nicht einmal eine Vorschlussrunde beinhalteten. Dabei war die Teilnehmerzahl gegenüber 1976 bereits auf acht verdoppelt worden, doch offensichtlich hatte die Uefa die Geldvermehrung damals noch nicht zum primären Daseinszweck erhoben.

Interessanterweise lautet meine erste Assoziation beim Stichwort EM 1980 immer “Bernd Schuster”, obwohl doch Hrubesch die Tore im Finale machte, obwohl “der blinde Allofs” (Zitat: mein Vater) den Holländern Albträume bereitete und obwohl Schuster damals lediglich zwei der vier Spiele bestritt. Dennoch bin ich mit dieser Sichtweise wohl nicht alleine, und man liest immer wieder, er sei es gewesen, der als aufgehender Stern dem Turnier seinen Stempel aufgedrückt habe.

Hrubesch hingegen bringe ich gar nicht so sehr mit der EM in Verbindung – es mag daran liegen, dass ich das Finale der Uhrzeit wegen nicht anschauen durfte -, sondern in erster Linie mit seinem seltsamen Hopserlauf nach dem entscheidenden Elfmeter im 82er Halbfinale gegen Frankreich (als er sich den Ball noch nicht einmal selbst zurecht gelegt hatte) – was einem so im Gedächtnis bleibt…

Hansi Müller war natürlich auch dabei, damals als “Bravo-Boy” in vieler Munde, und Rummenigge, der im Eröffnungsspiel gegen die Tschechoslowakei das 1:0 köpfte und die Ecke zu Hrubeschs titelbringendem Tor schoss. Enatz Dietz natürlich, und all die anderen, die sich zum Entsetzen meiner Eltern eines Nachmittags plötzlich in Form von Duplo- und Hanuta-Stickern (die damals noch schlicht “Aufkleber” oder “Klebebilder” hießen) an meiner Zimmertür wiederfanden. Und dort jahrelang bleiben sollten. Ergänzt um ein Jubelposter, bei dem mich die feminine Armhaltung des von mir bewunderten Rummenigge immer wieder irritierte.

Das Holland-Spiel, in dem Schuster 2 der 3 Allofs-Treffer vorbereitete, darunter das 3:0, bei dem er die Abwehr der Elftal verdammt alt aussehen ließ, konnte ich wegen der Geburtstagsfeier eines nur bedingt fußballinteressierten Freundes lediglich in einer Zusammenfassung sehen, und mein Verzicht auf die bedeutungslose Partie gegen die Griechen war Teil der Verhandlungsmasse, um vielleicht doch das Endspiel anschauen zu dürfen. Vergeblich.

Wenn man es also genau nimmt, habe ich nur das vergleichsweise langweilige Eröffnungsspiel live und in Farbe gesehen, und dennoch erscheint mir das Turnier unheimlich präsent. Das mag auch am Rückblick in Buchform liegen, den mein Vater sich wie immer nach solchen Anlässen zu Weihnachten wünschte und der meinen Freunden und mir manch spannenden Nachmittag bescherte:

“Nee, heute will ich mal das 74er Buch, Du kannst das von 1980 haben.”

“Ok, solang ich nicht das schwarzweiße 62er oder 1978 nehmen muss.”

Das Lästern über “Häuptling Silberlocke” hielt sich noch in Grenzen, “Jupp, der Wal” war noch nicht in den Witzspalten zu finden, Toni Schumacher hatte es sich noch nicht mit Fußballeuropa verscherzt – und dennoch war der spannendere Torwart des Turniers Jean-Marie Pfaff, der mich mit seinen Abschlägen bis zum gegnerischen Tor beeindruckte (offensichtlich verstand ich nicht so wahnsinnig viel vom Torwartspiel). Probleme mit Einwürfen hatte er nicht.

Die Belgier machten die Abseitsfalle hoffähig, von der ich naturgemäß nicht verstand, wieso sie eine Falle sei, hatte ich doch gerade erste die Geheimnisse des Abseits begriffen, doch ob das Turnier darüber hinaus relevante Erkenntnisse zur Entwicklung des Fußballs brachte, werde ich wohl nie erfahren, weil es damals entweder noch keine hochrangigen Fifa- bzw. Uefa-Kommissionen gab, die sich mit eben dieser Frage befassten, oder weil ihre Arbeit im Verborgegen ablief. Vielleicht waren Holger Osieck und Berti Vogts einfach noch zu jung.

Ansonsten kann ich mich an wenige Spieler der anderen Mannschaften erinnern. Jan Ceulemans natürlich, Gerets und Frankie van der Elst. Bei den Tschechen Panenka, dessen Rolle im 76er Finale schon damals etwas zu oft zitiert wurde, und bei den Holländern der Mann mit dem netten Namen Kees Kist (in der Schule hatte man gerade begonnen, auf der Rückseite von Quartettkarten “Käsekiste” zu spielen) sowie die van de Kerkhofs. Die Italiener hatten Zoff und den, so ließ ich mir sagen, großartigen Antognoni, England Clemence, Keegan und Woodcock, und bei Spanien stand Arconada im Tor und der im Jahr darauf entführte (Réthy-Content) Quini im Sturm. Bei den Griechen kann ich mich nicht einmal mit Hilfe von fussballdaten.de an jemanden erinnern.

Interessanterweise gab es auch bei den Deutschen einen Spieler, den ich nie so richtig einordnen konnte, nicht nur hinsichtlich seiner Leistungsfähigkeit, sondern auch optisch: Herbert Zimmermann. Ich weiß, dass er in Köln spielte, und erfuhr irgendwann, dass er auch bei den Bayern war, aber das war’s dann auch – was vielleicht auch daran liegt, dass er bei der EM 80 als einziger Feldspieler nicht zum Einsatz kam. (Oder daran, dass der Name Herbert Zimmermann in Fußballdeutschland einfach anders besetzt ist.)

Und eben dieser Zimmermann war nun ein Stein des Anstoßes, diesen Text zu schreiben. Die Herren von kickandwrite.de, die sich übrigens grade ein schickes neues Design gegeben haben, luden neulich zu einem Gewinnspiel, in dem es darum ging, vier Spieler aus dem 1980er Kader zu identifizieren:

Zwei waren völlig eindeutig (Junghans und Magath), der dritte, Schuster, war etwas unglücklich von der Seite getroffen, sodass es mit etwas Phantasie auch Del’Haye hätte sein können, und beim Vierten habe ich, eher nach dem Ausschlussprinzip, auf besagten Zimmermann getippt. Zuerst ins Blaue, dann irgendwann unter Zuhilfenahme der Kaderliste – aus meiner Sicht wurde immer deutlicher, dass es Zimmermann sein musste. Die Ausrichter bestritten dies im Rahmen eines vergnüglichen Kommentaraustauschs und ließen mir letztlich gar ihre Quelle zukommen, wonach mein Zimmermann tatsächlich Caspar Memering sei.

Wenn die Bildunterschrift von Mirko Votava gesprochen hätte, wäre ich angesichts des halb verdeckten Kopfes und des Schnauzbarts wohl geneigt gewesen, dem Glauben zu schenken, aber Memering? Da hat die Quelle versagt, behaupte ich einfach mal.

Da ich solche Behauptungen jedoch nicht ohne kompetente Überprüfung stehen lassen will, folgt nach etwas längerer Einleitung nun meine eigentliche Frage: wer ist der zweite Herr von rechts?

[Screenshot: kickandwrite.de]

Im Übrigen schließt sich der Kreis beim Gewinn ganz vortrefflich: “De Pfaffs” auf DVD.

LEGO has been a consistent winner of our top Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award each year–often with multiple winners.  This year will be no exception–except in one category.

When we were at Toy Fair in February we were really excited to see a renewed commitment to the DUPLO line–designed for kids 2 & up. There were Fire Stations,  Trucks, Zoos…all great fun and we knew our preschool testers would love giving them a try.

Each set has arrived and while they are wonderful for 3s & up, we are concerned about the size of some of the pieces in these sets for kids under three. While most of the pieces are big and chunky, we found one or two pieces that caused concern. Let us be clear, all of the pieces meet current government guidelines.  Each of the pieces in question (see images below) extend outside of the “choke tube” and therefore are completely legal.  We wondered though–why make these pieces so close?  The CPSC recommends that parents use a toilet paper roller as a home test…all of these pieces fail under this test.

So we asked the team at LEGO whether there was a design or developmental advantage to having two year olds handle such small pieces and why the pieces were so close to the edge. Here is their response:

We always make effort to have play imitate life, so the size of the suitcase is proportionate to the DUPLO figure.  We would not include an accessory that could potentially cause harm to a child or that does not pass the CPSC standard for small parts and age grading as regulated by the official choke tube test.  The accessory does not fit completely into the choke tube and use and abuse testing reveals that it also does not break into small parts that will fit completely in the tube.  While we understand the “home” test potential of the toilet paper tube, it is not a regulated means by which to measure safety as it has no bottom to mimic a real-life scenario.

*Since we asked this question about the DUPLO Zoo, we have received several other set that raise similar issues for us.

While we appreciate that the idea of scale is important–we’d side on the up-scaling or eliminating these items for this age range.  The working light piece on the top of the  truck (one of the coolest aspects of the garbage truck–and also in the fire station set) could have been attached to a bigger piece, the fireman’s ax could be attached to his  hand, the same with the pitchfork…you get the idea. The flower and the fish…just look so inviting.

All of these products would have been Platinum Award contenders if not for these small pieces.  We do recommend them for preschoolers–but unfortunately we don’t feel comfortable with the existing age label.  If you buy one of these sets and you have a child under three or a child who still mouths his toys…remove those pieces that concern you and you’ll be left with a engaging product.

We hope LEGO will remodel these “close” pieces.  Last year, after our concern over STEP 2’s hot dogs (that came with some of their kitchens)…the hot dogs were redesigned…so that the  hot dog is now encased  in a bun–making it a much wider and safer prop for play.

Below are some of the pieces, in our opinion, that are unnecessarily too close for comfort.  Again–completely within the law, but we see no reason for them to be this size.

]]> http://pagosparavadiar.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/produtos-que-nao-gostariamos-de-ver-por-ai/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:10:38 +0000 Edu http://pagosparavadiar.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/produtos-que-nao-gostariamos-de-ver-por-ai/

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Esse é o tipo de brinquedo que qualquer menina de +18 pode usar! (E meninos virados no quengo…)

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Eu nunca imaginei que alguém cairia nessa!!! huahuaehuaehuae

There was a time when I was almost positive that I wanted to be an architect or an engineer. Much of this belief stemmed from the many childhood years I spent in a little corner of my room, rummaging through a large box of cluttered and mismatching LEGO pieces. From building doorbells so that my parents would have to ‘ring’ before entering my room, to TECHNIC robots that completely demolished my younger brother’s DUPLO castles – I had a blast of a time coming up with all sorts of random inventions.

Some kids followed the instruction manuals step by step, page by page, and after wards left their finished masterpieces out on display. I on the other hand, would build it once, then demolish it and mix up all the pieces into my pit of ‘Lego doom’ (to my parents dismay), destined to never find their matching pieces ever again. On the positive side however, they would soon find themselves a part of something completely new and exciting, like… a pencil sharpener! If Lego pieces could talk, I’m sure they would’ve thanked me for giving them a refreshing take on their otherwise boring and generic plastic life.

Would love to know what people’s preferences were with Lego as a child. Please answer my poll below if you have the time. And no lying now… (you should know better! tsk tsk).

Looking back, and seeing the amount of Lego creativity I had mustered up at such a young age, I think I would have made an amazing industrial designer, or at the very least, a creator of uber trendy postmodern Lego fashion.

Who knows – it’s never too late they say. But in the meantime, I’ll just continue drawing inspiration from the inventive, surreal Lego artwork by Nathan Sawaya (shown at top).

LONG LIVE LEGO!