Nordic effects in London - A future winter tourism destination?!

With the atmosphere heating up in Copenhagen world climate summit, the weather effects are felt a bit everywhere, and as one knows only what one sees through the senses, these effects may be beyond what we're actually aware of.

c) London snow



The Queen takes the train instead of all her other (carbon producing) alternatives (not being this the reason necessarily) and Prince Charles takes his (not so carbon efficient) private jet to attend the summit. At the same time, limousines are driven from as far as Germany and Sweden to serve the delegates...
As time is running out, one starts wondering what will be the postures of the world leaders present and if they're actually reach an agreement or leave before it.

London gets covered in snow and people try to work around it with more or less joy, but certainly with a white Christmas feel to it!

At the same time if we add this to other environmental changes happening over the last years - floods, fires, unusual high temperatures or a blending of the seasons of the year -, we can wonder when action is finally taken... when the biggest polluters actually pay their fee to help solve their own problem...

Well, without any activist riots coming from this side, let's just wait and see what comes next... but hands on to take action in any way possible, everyday life is certainly a good start to create the world we want to present the future with...

Ara


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Silly Cat

Amazingly real and funny!!




There's a whole collection and even a real video!


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Treasure hunt vs. hunting the treasure...

This is the beginning of a special collection...



We may search all our lives for something, and yet...
It may have been always within us, (deep or not)inside us, in front of our noses or mirrored in those we surround ourselves with.

So why denied it, block it?
On the other hand, why make it into something unrealistic as soon as we become aware?

Talent, potential, greatness to DO and BE!
We all have it in essence. The reason why not all of it unfolds for everybody may lay on our individual background and experience, on Karma, on coincidences some even say...
It rains in London today and the sun shines elsewhere... However there is always a clear sky behind our clouds! :)





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Objects of Memory

Objects fill our life.
One single object can bring the memory of a whole event, story, person or place.
Holding on to that object too much is a different story...


At the same time, we only see what our individual perspective, mentality or current emotional state allows us to see, most of the times...
And we let the imagination come in, adding a special touch to everything around.
Only very few times, very few moments, we see things as they really are. Like a beautiful clear sky with super fast clouds blocking the view.

Nevertheless, we all have our story and objects help to tell it more clearly :)

The two first months in London went very very fast...

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Mirror Art - by Naczas

Great work from amazing people!!
Have a look at Naczas! :)
(http://www.etsy.com/shop/naczas)










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... Burn-E :))))

If you've seen Wall-E, this is a kind of side story... Really cute :)


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Farewell Ireland!...

:)
Two amazing years...the start of something still undiscovered completely... a step forward... green and more green, in a million tones and shapes... great friends... unforgettable moments... and always a chance to visit again... for all these reasons and many more!


The photo collection is so wide that I didn't seem to manage it all yet... Each part of it means a trip somewhere, great moments and great people around to make it memorable... Some are gone, others are here to stay because it just makes sense... :)

Special memories...
1st month - Dublin by night :)
Shots of early days
Impressions...

... :)))) ...

To Dublin, Carrick, Sligo, Killarney and to all of you my friends... :)
Go raibh míle maith agat! Thank you! :)
Hope to see you again sometime soon!
A big (sqeeeeeezing) hug!

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Can/should Big Brother really be watching you??

It's all very global, "facebooked", "twitterized", as easy as a low-cost flight to an otherwise unknown location for the masses...
Ironically, it's even fun to feed the monster. But...

What to do when it's just too much??




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A bit of Portugal, its tunes and great voices...

Some say it may be fate, nostalgia, hope, even regret, but Fado music is definitely part of the soul of Portugal - like Flamenco for the Spanish. Sometimes sad, hopeful, melancholic and even joyful, the fado song is about life, love and often a feeling of "saudade" - without direct translation, it means lack of something, or someone very dear to us... often remembered with a smile.

Almost very Sunday morning I would wake up to the sound of these tunes, male or female voices, other songs in between... but a very important part of my childhood memories! :)

"Barco Negro" - The original from the great Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999)

A contemporary version... :)
"Barco Negro" by Mariza



"Chuva" ("Rain") by Mariza


"Maria Lisboa" by Mariza by the Belém tower in Lisbon



The original by Amália - 1961



A bit of Cape Verde melodies in Lisboa.
"Sodade" by Cesária Évora & Mariza



Mariza on David Letterman's Show - "A gente da minha terra"



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Polish or not Polish? :))

“...and you’re from Poland, right?”, said someone to “Daniel” the other day! And the week before, and last month and ... every time the situation comes when a Polish or Irish or English person greets him and starts its conversation (in a bar, petrol station, etc.) straight in Polish. Well... Daniel kind of looks like Russian, Polish, Baltic, Eastern European... all blended together very well into a look that is basically interpreted by people according to their own individual view of the world...

Like in one other situation, when after all this usual greeting and a tipping moment, he accidentally gave 1 penny instead of 1 pound. The assistant mumbled some words with “curva” and went on. He was quite amazed at the situation and approached the waiter with 3 pounds, whom was then carrying bottles in his hands and in a mix of clumsiness and surprise accepted the tip and smiled... Interesting how swearing wasn’t probably in his mind at this moment! And how Daniel, who could have been angry at the swearing part, could’ve just walked away, sealing the interaction with a bad feeling... There is always a choice!!


When you move out of your country to live abroad, there is a mix of adventure and fear of the unknown, excitement of travelling, learning experiences and search for something new, together with a relief of finally leaving behind your normal life, despite the special people you may miss... not necessarily to go home every holiday or summer, paying for (sometimes extremely) expensive flights or showing off your “holidays” lifestyle in your home town. Now that you feel (and seem to look) so different because you come with a funny accent in your native language... In my opinion, our language or accent doesn’t really change so much, even if we don’t speak it every day. It’s part of us and the way we learned the world around... Why to go on with fake sophistication and add a “je ne sais quoi” to our style, when our mind and language naturally adapts to our home country...

This is a general thought and doesn’t apply if you’re born in London, from a Maltese mum and a Swedish dad, living in Germany for most of your life and having a Hungarian lover!!!

With a global society, where we travel, live and work with so many different people, it’s quite common the assumption of a specific label towards a face, look, style or simple body language, prior to any speech. And how so many times this first impression shatters itself with a complete different ending, surprising us and our initial judgements...

The point is, do we really want or bother to change our first impressions about people and the world around us?



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