Roberto Macedo Alves

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Quotes of previously read stuff continues, while the new scanner doesn’t arrive. Today, Rainer Maria Rilke, writing about Love:

“To love is good, too: love being difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. For this reason, young people, who are beginners in everything, cannot know love: they have to learn it. With their whole being, with all their forces, gathered close about their lonely, timid, upward-beating heart, they must learn to love.

But learning time is always a long, secluded time, and so loving, for a long while ahead and far on into life, is - solitude, intensified and deepened lonenss for him who loves. Love is at first not anything that maens merging, giving over, and uniting with another (for what a union be of something unclarified and unfinished, still subordinate -?); It is a high inducement to the individual to ripen, to become something in himself, to become world, to become world for himself for another’s sake; it is a great exacting claim upon him, something that chooses him out and calls him to vast things. Only in this sense, as the task of working at themselves (”to hearken and to hammer day and night”), might young people use the love that is given them. Merging and surrendering and every kind of communion is not for them (who must save and gather for a long, long time still), is the ultimate, is perhaps that for which human lives as yet scarcely suffice.”

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Continuo com as citações de coisas que li previamente, enquanto o novo scanner não chega. Hoje, é a vez de Rainer Maria Rilke, que escreve sobre o Amor:

“Amar também é bom: porque o amor é difícil. O amor entre dois seres humanos: esta é provavelmente a mais difícil de todas as nossas tarefas, a maior e última prova, o trabalho para o qual todos os outros trabalhos são apenas preparação. Por esta razão os jovens, que são ainda inexperientes em tudo, não podem conhecer o amor: têm que aprende-lo. Com todo o seu ser, com todas as suas forças, concentradas no seu solitário, tímido, palpitante coração, eles devem aprender a amar.

Mas o tempo de aprendizagem é sempre um processo longo de clausura. Assim, para quem ama, durante muito tempo e pela vida fora, o amor é solidão, isolamento por aquele que ama, intensificado e profundo. O amor não é no início aquilo que se chama dar-se, unir-se a outra pessoa (pois que sentido teria a união de algo não esclarecido, inacabado, ainda subordinado-?); é um chamamento para que o indivíduo amadureça, para que se torne algo em si mesmo, para que se torne mundo para si e pelo outro; é uma grande exigência que lhe é pedida, algo que o escolhe e o chama para coisas vastas. Apenas neste sentido, tal como na tarefa de trabalhar em si mesmos (”escutar e martelar dia e noite”) os jovens deviam usar o amor que lhes é dado. A fusão com o outro, a entrega de si, toda a espécie de comunhão não é ainda para eles (que deverão durante muito tempo reunir e guardar), é algo de acabado para o qual talvez a vida humana ainda não seja suficiente.”

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I’ve not been showing new drawings recently because there is a problem with my scanner. Or an incompatibility between my scanner and my new Mac. You choose.While I don’t get a new scanner, you will have to enjoy (or endure) my witty remarks about stuff I’ve read.
Today we were eating sardines, and I remembered something I read (I don’t really remember where, it was just drifting in my brain) about a medicine manual from the 1700s written by Fonseca Henriques, personal physician of King João V of Portugal.
Why the sardines reminded me of the medicine manual? Because the book had an eerie reference to the fish. Or the head of the fish, actually.So, while the Mafra Convent was being built, and King João V suffered of constipation (apparently) - this illustrious physician was writing on this medical manual relevant information about the importance, advantages and disadvantages of sardines. Right after the nutritional part, he says that the head of the sardine, used as a suppositorius (suppository) was very effective in getting rid of excrements in cases of constipation.
I don’t even want to think how Fonseca Henriques tested that treatment. Or how often King João suffered of constipation.
I prefer to think about the 1700s as a time of powdered wigs and baroque music. And then, in the 1800s came the leeches and the mercury as medical treatments.
No wonder Herbert George Wells said:
“The world is undergoing immense changes. Never before have the conditions of life changed so swiftly and enormously as they have changed for mankind in the last fifty years. We have been carried along - with no means of measuring the increasing swiftness in the succession of events. We are only now beginning to realize the force and strength of the storm of change that has come upon us.“
And now that we look back, he was ABSOLUTELY right.

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Recentemente, não ando a apresentar novos desenhos porque há um problema com o meu scanner. Ou uma incompatibilidade entre o meu scanner e o meu novo Mac. O leitor que escolha. Enquanto eu não arranjo um novo scanner, vão ter que saborear (ou suportar) os meus comentários espirituosos acerca das coisas que ocasionalmente leio.
Hoje estávamos a comer sardinhas, e me lembrei de algo que tinha lido. Não me lembro exactamente onde, devia ser algo que tinha a flutuar na minha mente) acerca de um manual de medicina de 1700s escrito por Fonseca Henriques, médico pessoal do Rei João V de Portugal.

Mas porque as sardinhas fizeram que eu me lembrasse de um manual de medicina? Porque o referido livro tinha uma estranha referência a este peixe. Ou melhor, à cabeça do peixe. Assim, enquanto o Convento de Mafra estava a ser construído, e o Rei D. João V sofria de prisão de ventre (aparentemente) - este ilustre médico escrevia no seu manual de medicina informações relevantes sobre a importância, vantagens e desvantagens das sardinhas. Logo depois de falar da parte nutritiva do peixinho, ele diz que a cabeça da sardinha, usada como suppositorius (supositório) era muito eficiente para ajudar o processo de defecação em casos de prisão de ventre.
Eu não quero nem pensar como é que o Fonseca Henriques testou este tratamento. Ou com quanta frequência o Rei D. João sofreu de prisão de ventre.
Prefiro pensar nos 1700s como uma época de perucas empoadas e música barroca. Claro que depois, nos 1800s vieram as sanguessugas e o mercúrio como tratamentos médicos.

Realmente, não me estranha que Herbert George Wells tivesse dito que:
“O mundo está a atravessar mudanças imensas. Nunca antes as condições de vida mudaram tão rapidamente como mudaram para a humanidade nos últimos cinquenta anos. Nós fomos carregados - sem forma de medir a rapidez da sucesão de eventos. Só agora começamos a tomar consciência da força da tempestade de mudança que se abateu sobre nós.“
E agora que olhamos para trás, ele estava ABSOLUTAMENTE certo.

Today I am feeling too tired to blog about anything… so, I am going to quote.

And the quote comes from the foreword of Neil Postman’s book “Amusing Ourselves to Death“:

Quoted from the Perichoresis Blog

And now I wonder if we are not just getting dangerously close to Huxley’s fears… Or maybe I am just feeling pessimistic today.

Herbert George Wells said that “The old-world teachers and schools have to be reformed or replaced“.

I was not sure the man was being an extremist when he wrote that. Until now.

But today, I had this strange experience with an old-world (young) teacher, that showed me that Wells, in 1935 was right. And Wells in 2008 is still right.

Today I was talking to a small group of young people about “Os Maias“. This can be considered by many as one of the crowning achievements of Portuguese Literature.

This book is just too fascinating to just describe it in a few words. It would be like saying that “The Godfather” is a movie about the mafia. Under the soap-opera-like plot, we have a criticism on the Portuguese Identity, a precise analysis about what was wrong with the country 100 years ago (when the book was written) - and the tragic realization that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Anyway, I was explaining to young people how fascinating this book was, how the brilliant Eça de Queirós (the author of the book) makes us think critically about ourselves as Portuguese, and how sometimes he just manipulates the reader. I am still talking about that when the young teacher responsible for the group says “I hated that book when I had to read it in school“.

I was like “I would have been less offended if you just farted noisily right now, lady”.

And then I thought about the Herbert George Wells words I talked in the beginning of this post, about how the world needs to get rid of the old-world teachers.

I am not criticizing ALL teachers. I know many great, inspired, BRILLIANT teachers. Those who can shape and improve young minds and change them forever - for the best.

But for one of those brilliant inspiring teachers, there is probably a dozen like this “I-hated-Os-Maias” lady.

We don’t need a revolution in education (ok, maybe we need that) - we need much more than that.

How can we complain about the “new generation” with some poor teachers like like this “I-hated-Os-Maias” lady?

That’s enough for today. Good night.

Sometimes I enter a meditative state, and go to reread books I’ve already read, and are underlined, scribbled and dog-eared.

This time, the book revisited was (again) Douglas Coupland’s “Generation X: Tales for an accelerated culture”

And even if the book is pretty plotless, the characters are interesting and sort of likeable, despite the apparent vacuity of them.

Suddenly, in this book, Elvissa (one of the characters) asks to Tobias (the yuppie) something that left me thinking:

“When you die and get buried and get to be floating wherever you go, what is going to be your best memory from Earth?”

Tobias, doesn’t understand, and Elvissa elaborates:

“What is the moment that for you defines what is to be alive in this planet? what do you want to take with you from here?”

Yet, the yuppie doesn’t understand. Elvissa continues:

“I want to hear about a tiny moment of your life that proves that you are really alive”

And that is really an AMAZING question.

I thought about that, and curiously, I couldn’t find a definite answer. There are several wonderful moments that I can consider my best memory from Earth. All of them too private to be shared here. But it was an amazing question, nonetheless.

And you, what is the moment that for you defines what is to be alive on this planet?

As my birthday is approaching, in case someone wants to celebrate and send me a gift, here is my wish list at Amazon.com

Not much writing today, because I feel like a Material Boy.

And here is the link to my wishlist!

There are these preconceived notions about “Commercial movies”. About the emptiness of “popcorn films”. I think the new Batman film shatters those notions. Until now, superhero movies were supposed to be empty fights of “good super-heroes against bad super-villains”.

Not anymore.

I remember reading somewhere someone saying that this superhero movie had the same tragic pathos of “The Godfather” (and it has, indeed!) and was directed by a guy with the same fondness to sink and shit over his characters as Lars von Trier does. This is a powerful drama in an Epic scale,performed by actors in state of grace and deep meditations about good and evil,about power, and chaos and ANARCHY, and what could be necessary to shatter a good man. To shatter a White Knight.

It could have been a mafia/detective/police movie, whose protagonist is just a man dressed in a black bat-like costume. Actually, it is.

But this movie goes way beyond a fight between Batman and the Joker. There is never a boring moment. Everything is very tense, very intense. Continuous punch to the guts and not a moment to rest.

I already saw this movie 4 times (and a half) – even the dark, powerful soundtrack is excellent, with reminiscences of the score from the first Christopher Nolan Batman film.

I won’t even talk about Heath Ledger’s Joker –a posthumous interpretation that is doubtless one of the big, most impressive, astounding, scary villains of the history of Cinema. But there is something even more fascinating about this Joker.

Bob Kane (creator of Batman and the Joker) admitted that the inspiration of the Joker was Gwynplaine, the protagonist of the Victor Hugo Novel “The Man Who Laughs” (”L’homme qui rit“). That’s interesting trivia, right?

But there is much more to this matter. Bob Kane was inspired on the 1926 silent movie, adapting the book, not the original “L’Homme qui rit” book. And that’s plainly evident when we see Conrad Veidt, the actor who played Gwynplaine on the silent movie and the first appearance of the joker:

No, there’s more than that. Apparently Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger must have read the book, because Gwynplain, was a child, originally named Fermain, heir to Lord Linnaeus Clancharlie, Marquis of Corleone and a Baron in the House of Lords. With the Approval of James II, young Fermain was given to a band of wanderers called ‘the Comprachicos‘ - that make their living by mutilating and disfiguring children, who are then forced to beggary or exhibited as carnival freaks.

What was young Fermain disfigurement? His face has been mutilated into a clown’s mask, his mouth carved into a perpetual grin.

Yes. Carved. Into a perpetual grin. Right. Does this remind you of something?

Nolan knows his classics. And it was brilliant.

So, when I was looking at the mysterious joker, asking “do you know how I got my scars?” and the story kept changing, in my mind the sordid tale of Gwynplaine was running, imagining the young future-joker, as heir to some nobility title, sold and disfigured.

Look at Gwynplaine here, in the picture below. Looks Familiar?

Brilliant.

But there is more.

We see the joker telling us he was an agent of chaos, fighting against power structures and well laid plans. What happened to good old Gwynplaine in Victor Hugo’s novel? He ended up formally instated as Lord Fermain Clancharlie, Marquis of Corleone, dressed in the elaborate robes and cerimonial wig of investiture from the House of Lords, but when he talks to his peers, the other lords start laughing at his grin and deformed clown-like features!

So, Gwynplaine renounces his peerage (so much for power structures!) and goes back to the people who cared for him when he was a child.

A similar disfigurement is talked about in Herbert George Wells novel, Tono-Bungay, when George, the protagonist has an airplane accident, a branch drives right through his cheek, damaging cheek and teeth and gums - and he compares himself to ‘L’Homme qui Rit!‘

I was remembering all that while watching the film for the first time. To me Heath/Joker was just another unavenged Gwynplaine, being punished for some reason beyond his control and snapping against the power structures that made him what he was.

Wow. Absolutely genious, and suddenly, this became one of my favourite films EVER.

And if you only watch one film this year. This should be it!.

Period.

Colleen Doran sent me a link to a comicbookresources.com forum thread, where they are talking about a new project, Grim Furry Tales.

Apparently, this will be something fun, and there are several talented artists interested in participate.

The Concept:

Every fairy tale is colored by those who read it. The writer just provides the tools to create it.

The How:

I provide a list of short stories for the artist to choose from. The artist then reads the story and draws what comes to mind from it based in the GFT setting.

The Purpose:

Website content and possible publishing in various formats.

Questions

Q: What is GFT?

A: GFT stands for Grim Furry Tales, it is a play on Grimm Fairy Tales of course.

Q: Wasn’t there a Grim Furry Tales before?

A: Not exactly, there was a Grimm’s Furry Tails which was a spin off from Mother Goose and Grimm created by Mike Peters. GFT is in no way related to the works of Mike Peters.

Q: Well then what is GFT about?

A: GFT is about a boy named Thomas who inherits a book that reveals the stories of a girl named Laurel and her brother Ronnie as they unfold. It follows her as she discovers a chest locked away in her attic containing a very old secret. This secret being the Avatars of Dreaming, which happen to look like animated stuffed animals. She quickly becomes friends with them having many adventures all the while Thomas wishes he could do more then read about it.

Q: What is the age group focus?

A: I am looking at 12 and up.

Q: What is your inspiration?

A: Most of it comes from classic fairy tales. I don’t mean the Disney version where the little mermaid marries the prince. I am talking about the one where the mermaid is forced to choose between killing the prince or letting herself die. Or one where the evil step sisters’ eyes are pecked out by crows. This is where I got my inspiration, the true classics.

Q: So this is Gothic?

A: I really don’t care for the way the word is used these days, but if you mean in the older sense, yes.

Q: If you publish when will it happen?

A: Megacon 2009 is the hopeful date depending on how fast we can bring this all together.

Q: How long will the story be?

A: Around 300 to 3000 words.

Q: Will the stories come together or are they standalone?

A: Each one is a standalone piece with reoccurring characters. Some stories are directly influence by a few old style fairy tales, others are completely original pieces.

This was my initial sample - to see if they approved my participation on the Project:

And if you are interested, you can also participate. Just join the comicbookresources.com forums, and tell the organizers you are interested in being part of this project! It really sounds fun!

This is a drawing for a Cadavre Exquis Project (also known as “exquisite cadaver” or “rotating corpse”) is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled, the result being known as the exquisite corpse or cadavre exquis in French. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. “The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun”) or by being allowed to see the end of what the previous person contributed. (source: wikipedia) )

In this case, the collective project is a comic book - and I got page 7. (which has some karming resonance, considering my relationship to the “Livraria Sétima Dimensão” - Seventh Dimension Bookstore).

I decided to tighten up all the loose ends done by previous authors, and for that - I included 3 Popes: Innocent (VIII), Clement (V), and Pius (VII).

Those who follow this blog, have noticed that I’ve been absent, on a small sort-of “vacation leave“.

I just felt tired was just exerting myself too much - doing too many things at once, without enjoying the good things of life. And without resting.

Sometimes I feel like I never get tired. But I had this epiphany when I was reading “Generation X“, by Douglas Coupland. That book has been sitting on my shelf for YEARS (I think it was Nick Hornby who said that some people like to buy more books that they can read, fearing that there could be some day we don’t have a new book to read. Strange, but I can totally relate). Anyway, somewhere in the “Generation X” book, someone says “we spend our youth chasing riches and we spend your riches chasing youth“. I think it was Alex.

And I was like “oh. Shit. This is so right!” Even if many people say that this book is pretentious and boring, I just felt totally identified as an Gen X’er, so it just clicked with me. Intensely.

Anyway, when i read that, I thought I shouldn’t spend ALL of my youth chasing riches (saying it like that, sounds sort of stupid), and working most of the time and such. And that I should rest a little, enjoy a little of the stuff I like (like spending a couple of hours on the couch reading comics!) - and that meant a period of vacation, away from the computer, and doing stuff I like, squeezing them into my schedule.

But I felt the need for blogging.

So I am back, on the day of Jorge Luis Borges birthday!

And to celebrate that, I post a small drawing done by the master: “fanfarrón de la era dorada” - drawn in 1926, when Borges was 27.

Rilke said that we all are born with a written letter inside us and only if we are sincere to ourselves we could read them before we die.

I don’t intend to let my letter end unread.