Vincent

Vienna II

I spent almost the whole day in the "Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien". The collection has around 1,400 paintings, mainly works by artists of the Venetian Renaissance (Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto), but also included major works by 15th- to 17th-century Flemish masters (van Eyck, Rubens, van Dyck). The museum also has an important collection of Egyptian and Near Easter art, and I loved the cute hippo that I show you in the picture ;-)

HKM-Hippo

After the cultural activity I was terribly hungry and could not resist to have a typical Käsekrainer (austrian cheese-filled sausage!): caloric and delicious!

And now, I do not know yet what to do, it is my last night here in Vienna and I should go out...

or stay and then go to the Prater park tomorrow morning? Well you will know...

Grüße aus Wien!

Greetings from Vienna to everyone! Today I finished the job assigment that brought me to Vienna and now I have time to enjoy visiting the city ;-)

This mission has been great, the colleages were very friendly, we worked a lot but we also went out in the evening. The first day we went to see an ice-hockey match. I was reluctant at the beginning but it was quite exciting at the end, but what a brutal sport... ("my team", the Red Bulls Salzburg won against the EV Vienna Capitals!). Then, on wednesday we went to the Albertina museum to visit the exhibition of Van Gogh: excellent!

VAN GOGH Ausstellung v. 5.9.08 - 8.12.08
AlbertinaWienAustria

The outstanding activity of today (thursday 23.10) was to go to the well-known Sacher hotel and eat their famous and very expensive cake + coffee ;-) ...I have to control my budget:

Sacher Torte

That´s all for now!

La Cenerentola

Yesterday I went to the opera of la Monnaie here in Brussels to see "La Cenerentola" of Rossini directed by Joan Font (Els Comediants). This was an excellent initiative of one work colleage who bought the tickets. I am far to be an expert in Opera or classical music in general but it is always a great experience to attend this kind of events. 

La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant) is an "operatic dramma giocoso" (between opera seria and opera buffa, with a sentimental plot and a happy end) in two acts by Gioacchino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. Rossini's La Cenerentola was first performed in Rome in 1817. La Cenerentola ridicules the habits and vices of the bourgeoisie, holding up a mirror to audiences past and present.

Rossini composed La Cenerentola when he was 25 years old, following the success of The Barber of Seville the year before. La Cenerentola, is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles.

Joan Font directs this colorful version which is a major co-production from the Houston Grand Opera, Welsh National Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

La Monnaie

Click here to read the article in "Le Soir"

Mi par d'essere sognando, finale concertant (Liceu, Barcelona 2008) :

(Switch-off the background music first: left-side down of the screen) 

Anniversary

My parents arrived safe to Medellin! They seem very happy although my grandmother is really weak. But today is also a very special day: my parents celebrate their wedding anniversary. 38 years of togetherness! The family will gather this afternoon. So, congratulations to "mis viejos"! We love you!

Dad and mum are now in Colombia

My parents are in a two week trip to Colombia. They want to visit my grandmother (my mother's mum) who is very ill. It is very difficult, we do not know for how long she will live. That is why my parents decided to go to Medellín. It is a long trip and at the present time they must have arrived already. For me it is quite late (03:40 am), but I would like to know if they are already at grandma's place. Anyhow I will put the clock with the local time in Colombia in this blog to check when can I call them to have any news.

First steps into oil painting

It is already 1 month since I started going to the Art Academy. I have finished my first exercise: an introduction to the study of perspective, how to make a sketch with charcoal and the most important: how to paint with oil! It is not as simple as I had previously thought! Therefore the learning process is slow but I'm very proud of the results. I decided to create a new blog to keep track of the things that I am learning and the exercises. So if you are curious here you have the link:

http://quintc-art.blogspot.com/

But please, I'm far to be the new Picasso, right? So be indulgent ;-)

Cuore sacro

This is the second film of Ferzan Ozpetek that I have watched.

I find it difficult to explain my feelings about this film. The magic and mystic interacts with the rough side of the reality of our competitive society full of disparities. This mix seems difficult to reconcile and the goodness that invades the main character (a successful yuppie) of the film turns to be an episode of insanity and alienation, compulsive altruism. Therefore, you must be definitely nuts to be a saint nowadays…an even if it is true it seems to me a very disappointing solution…I do not know…this makes me feel uncomfortable. All in all the film is good, the photography excellent but something is missing…I am still thinking about it!

http://www.cuoresacro.com/

Resilience

Resilience is defined as a dynamic process in which individuals exhibit positive behavioral adaptation when they encounter significant adversity or trauma.

"A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered. While the living thing may easily be crushed by a superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existences... It is the very nature of life to strive to continue in being. Since this continuance can be secured only by constant renewals, life is a self-renewing process."

John Dewey (1859-1952) American educational philosopher

To know more click here

Background music: Coldplay, Everything's not lost/ Life is for living

When I'm counting up my demons.
There's always one for everyday,
With the good ones on my shoulder,
I drove the other ones away.

If you ever feel neglected,
If you ever think all is lost,
I'll be counting up my demons, yeah,
Hoping everything's not lost,
Everything's not lost

Family visit

My father and brother -in-law came to attend a training course in Leuven and we spend last Sunday together visiting Brussels. I was very happy to have them here: Josep, Maria José, Marina, Marc, Maria and also her cousin with her husband and mother-in-law. Yes we were a bunch of people! We were blessed with a sunny day...quite lucky indeed! Hope they will come in the near future and have more time to visit other interesting spots of this "plat pays"!

Cheers!

Mamma mia!

Despite all possible bad comments about this movie and the probable free version of the musical (which I don't know: I haven't been to the musical yet) I must said that I had a great time watching the film and singing all the ABBA hits. I appreciated how the audience finally relaxed and started also singing and clapping at the end! Meryl Streep is outstanding and her voice is simply fabulous, something that I had the opportunity to listen live with Joan in New York a couple of years ago in Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children". For the curious, Streep also showed off her pipes with two versions of the country song "Checking Out of This Heartbreak Hotel" in Postcards from the Edge (1990), and with a campy, Broadway diva number called "Me" in Death Becomes Her (1992). Is there anything she can't do?

Please go and watch the film!

• Article of Maruja Torres in el PAIS
• "Mother Courage and Her Children"
• Meryl Streep singing "I'm checking out"
• Meryl Streep - "(I see) Me" from the Death Becomes Her
  

La Dolce vita

Back to Brussels today...13°C and raining...need to be tough! Well, the holidays are over but it is unavoidable to feel kind of nostalgic right? So nothing better to go with this feeling than some music from our past (I assume than for some of my readers this is too retro...): I found one of these songs of the 80's that made me think about the summer holidays, travelling and so on...la Dolce vita of Ryan Paris...please have a look on the u-tube link to watch the video-clip and add your comments.

Fotografie della cità eterna

Roma

Difficult to summarize in a few words all what this city offers to its visitors. First time for my parents and Joan, the surprise in their eyes was already wonderful. Hey brother congrats! We have offered our parents a great present! On my side I was deeply moved in the Pantheon, enjoyed so much the food and kindness of the people. I was really glad to be there again! This brought back memories of our dear Jesús and Maruja Espinal: wherever you are in heaven big kisses to you both!
The drawing is from the art gallery " I colori di dentro" in Rome, the artist name is M. Grazia Luffarelli
www.mgluffarelli.com

Black: Wonderful life

Time for nostalgia! After longtime looking for news about this singer of the late 80's/beginning 90's... I finally found him! Oh my God, time goes by for everybody...In fact it was quite difficult to find out if he was still playing. He is one of my favorites, one of the various musicians that my precocious brother introduced us to. So here you have some interesting links about him and his music. Enjoy!

• Black
  
• "Wonderful life" hit
• Video
  

Luxembourg escapade

Yesterday I decided to go to Luxembourg to celebrate Mara's Name day, thanks to the initiative of Vasiliki -by the way the very best hostess !- excellent food and company on this one-day trip. There we gathered Tanguy, Mara, gorgeous Ektoras, Georgios, Chrisoula, Vasiliki and me. No need to say that the Greek delegation was well represented! Next time I promise I will visit the rest of friends in Luxembourg, hey you are a lot there lately! And you know what, I received my first birthday present with best wishes of Love, Luck, Peace and Fortune! I feell very moved, I didn't expected it. I'm already very lucky to have you guys!

Lots of luv and have a nice week-end!

Greek Name Day

No country for an ugly girl...

I don't know if you watched the cute Chinese little girl who sang at the Olympic opening ceremony. In fact what I noticed is that she was probably singing in playback, what I could not imagine when reading the press today is that she was not the original singer. The real one was another girl about the same age but not as cute as the one on stage...Once this was discovered the official explanation was that the decision was taken "on the interest of the nation...". China seems to be obsessed to give the perfect impression to the world, but the message between lines is that China makes no exception: Discrimination on the grounds of the way you look and the pressure of image is a global trend and it starts sooner than you think...

• The Guardian
  

Wanted

Do you want to break your routine? Then go an watch "Wanted" starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. It's true, again an American action movie full of violence and matrix-style special effects...
It's somehow scary to which extent our society is demanding all these blood and flesh. But hey, I went there and I enjoyed...the point is that we banalize violence because we have been lucky enough not to be confronted to the real thing: Yeap! Lots of reasons for self-critizism...
What do you think? I hope I haven't freak you out ... ;-)

• Wanted
  

The Belly of an architect

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I finally finished watching this film of Peter Greenaway. I must admit that in the past I only succeeded to watch part of it. I was more interested in the superb film soundtrack of Wim Mertens and its well known "Struggle for pleasure" song. The script about this architect obsessed with the size of his big belly (...I think we have this in common...) portrays in fact a complex relation between the architectural language and the cinema and gives numerous and subtle references to science and history. Perhaps a little bit too much for my taste but the views of Rome are fabulous!

• Synopsis
  

• Semiology
  

• Struggle for pleasure

Welcome to the newcomers!

Hello everyone! For those who were not aware of it here you have my blog! I cannot promise I will update it every day but at least you will now know more about me and the latest news!
Please fill free to send your comments
That's all folks!
Carlos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaGMMW1kfiA&feature=related

Ready for summer holidays

Yes I am ready, but I still have to wait a bit...oh late August so near so far! In the meantime I'm reading lots of things about Rome and watching again films like la Dolce Vita, the Belly of the architect, Mamma Roma etc. This holidays will be memorable! I'm sure!

Nice surprise!

Today I received a great surprise from Astrid, a nice pic of our childhood. She is the elder daugther of my godparents, in fact they are our family in Spain. Astrid and her brother Edwin were born like me in Colombia, their sister Jennifer was born in Barcelona like my brother Henry. We grew up together Astrid, Edwin, Henry and me. I have lots of good memories of those years in which life was not always easy but we shared what we had and we were happy with very simple things .

Back to Brussels

Oh yes back to reality! I was still this morning in Barcelona...well, it has been a great week-end full of emotions, all super-positive! In fact, I succeeded to be with Joan, Pili and Antonio came to visit us and in Barcelona I met Lourdes and Nina and then I had dinner with my family. So perrrfect! But now, I will have to wait until late August for the real long summer holidays. Anyway, I think I will try to repeat this type of breaks more often, I have a lot of good excuses for doing so ;-) and I'm super-motivated!

Appartment pics 4 !

Our room and bathroom 2

Appartment pics 3 !

Rooms 1 & 2 and bathroom 1

Appartment pics 2 !

The living room

Appartment pics!

Kitchen, balcony and views of garden and swimming pool

New appartment !

Today is the Belgian national day...a 4 day weekend that I have used to come to Tarragona and see our brand new appartment! We are so happy with the result! Joan has worked really hard and all the families have supported us, it's really great! I've taken some pics which I'll post asap!

Hi everyone!

Well, this is just to start with this blog, thus my message won't be long. Here we are, Joan and me in New York, 1st January 2006.