Within a Sky Full of Earth

Alguém pode ter ficado espantado por não ter escrito em português o anúncio da festa do 35 de Abril que teve lugar ontem no Rooftop. Foi apenas uma questão de opção na completa falta de tempo. Ao passar a informação não queremos restringi-la apenas a uma comunidade, queremos que, mesmo as nossas datas, cheguem a todos os campos. E foi isso que aconteceu. A preferência por uma divulgação mais vasta do que pela evidência da língua, se assim se pode dizer.
A festa essa foi mais uma vez um sucesso, apesar de algums contra-tempos iniciais com o sistema sonoro. Música portuguesa de todos os quadrantes, de hoje, de ontem, e algumas do tempo da minha avozinha. Fechámos com Zeca Afonso e o "Verdes Anos" do Carlos Paredes. O 35 de Abril, uma data a recordar. Sempre!

"35 d'Abril"
[APRIL 25 • Saturday • Starting at 10 PM]

The 35 of April is quite a universal date in the Portuguese calendar and probably in fairy-tales, but it happens only every odd year, it means that every 35 years after the revolution the 35 of April comes. And this goes for every country.

It's a date to celebrate liberty and self-determination and most of all the joy of singing on the hope for a new future.
In this special occasion we invite you to commemorate all the steps of the art of making a song through the leaps of Portuguese music. Some would call it the April Songs. We call it Creation.
On the first light of the 25th of April, 1974, in a faraway land, some men and women composed their new destiny saying to the world that the heart and voices could never be stopped. And peacefully history changed. This was achieved through a strategy of many lines and the power of song writing helped it to the final push to what end up to be a spontaneous movement..
This was known as the "Carnation Revolution" but we think that that just happened by chance and is overrated and so any flower goes! ;-)
Well said you just need to come and feel it with your heart, while having a great time at The Rooftop!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! THANK YOU!

DETAILS
Host: Corner's Club
Start Time: Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 10:00pm
Location: St. Paul's Corner • Travessa de S. Paulo • Macau

"SMELLS LIKE THE NINETIES"
[APRIL 18 • Saturday • Starting at 10 PM]

Have you heard of THE ROOFTOP?
Well, there's something going on through the leads of St. Pauls Ruins that is bringing all the saints awake to what's the whiz in town.

THE ROOFTOP is the bar at the St. Paul's Corner Club on the steps of the most remarkable landmark of Macau and it's back with a party. Once more on a venture with Bloom * Creative Network is creating what might be something different in town and surely not to be missed!
"SMELLS LIKE THE NINETIES" is a return to that great stream of sound and fury marked in time and deep down on everyone's memories. That's it, we're inviting you to come on this BUZZ evoking all the hits of Indy, Pop, Punk, Rock, Dance, and Hip-Hop, and whatever, that made the whole of a decade and that are still echoing in our minds.
With the illustrious JORGIBOY, the rage of DJ KUNMING and introducing THE LOUNGE at the Corner's Club, what will be a surprise and a trial for following events, you must come and dance through out the night.

JOIN IN and invite your friends to come! It's simple as that.

DETAILS
Host: Corner's Club
Start Time: Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 10:00pm
End Time: Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 3:00am
Location: St. Paul's Corner • Travessa de S. Paulo • Macau

Some few opportunities from our Creative Network, they are mainly requests from Hong Kong SAR. But that's not a reason for not applying and give it a chance. Here you go:

ACTORS
• ACTORS WANTED [SEALS THEATRE FOUNDATION]
This is a cast for a Play. They require different characters.
A. RANDALL – Male, early 20s, an American marine.
B. ANDERSON – Male, early 40s, an American businessman
C. DA SILVA – Male, 50s, Portugese businessman. Can also be played by Eurasian with Mediterranean look.
D. RAJA & RAMCHAND – Indian and Pakistani partners in retail merchandising.
E. MAY – Female, Chinese, early 20s, Wan Chai bar hostess, fluent Cantonese and Suzie Wong pidgin-English
F. WONG – Male, Chinese mid-30s, hijack leader, fluent English and Cantonese, conversant Cantonese.
G. ABE – Male, Japanese, mid-40s, fluent in Japanese accented English (Japanese not required).
Audition Date: 26th of April, 2009
Performance Dates: 18-20 December, 2009
Send CV and headshots.
Contact: Tammy Tam
Email: tammy@eduarts.com.hk
Phone: 2520 1716

• ETHNIC EXTRAS WANTED [TV COMMERCIAL IN MACAU]
Mature (age 45-60) men and women from different ethnic (African, Indian, Arab, etc) background needed for TVC in Macau. Business look. Send contacts and pictures.
Email: watkisss@hotmail.com

• ASIAN ACTORS WANTED [PUBLIC ENTERPRISE TVC]
This company is looking for three asian actors for a TV Commercial.
A. Male / Female, 20-30 years old, fluent Cantonese
B. Boy / Girl, 4-6 years old, fluent Cantonese
C. Male/ Female 50-60 years old, fluent Cantonese
Casting Date: April 5
If you are interested, please send photos and contacts.
Email: casting@filmfactory.net

• CAUCASIAN ACTORS / ACTRESSES WANTED [EASTER PROMOTION]
Peanut Butter ‘n Jelly Model and Talent is looking for 6 Caucasian female actresses and one male actor for an Easter promotion.
Email: info@peanutbutternjellyhk.com

• ACTORS WANTED [HKAPA STUDENT SHORT FILM]
A. Female Actor - 25-28 years old, height above 155cm, fluent Cantonese
B. Female Actor - 25-28 years old, skinny and short, fluent Cantonese
C. Male Actor - 25-28 years old, look fresh, normal height
Shooting Dates: 21-30 April, 2009 (4-5 days)
Send photos and resume.
Contact: Kim
Email1: himyiktam@yahoo.com.hk
Email2: old_masterq@hotmail.com
Phone: 9046 0606

• OLD CHINESE TALENT WANTED [HONG KONG MOVIE]
Male or female, age 50-70. Send contacts, info and photos.
Email: info@stanleycasting.com

• ACTRESS WANTED [TV COMMERCIAL]
HKBU MFA production looking for an actress for a TVC. Should be around 28 to 34. Cantonese/English speaker. The character is a mother with a young child. Good opportunity for non-experienced actress. Also welcome experienced actress. Please send photo.
Email: fintan.cheng@gmail.com

DANCERS
• CHARACTER PERFORMERS WANTED [FULL TIME, PERMANENT]
A large Hong Kong entertainment company is looking for Character Performers.
Requirements: At least 16 years of age.
Audition: Applicants will participate in a short movement and non-verbal expression exercise.
Please send CV / Resume.
Contact: hkperform@gmail.com

• FEMALE DANCERS WANTED [EVENT]
Peanut Butter ‘n’ Jelly Models and Talent is looking for adult, female dancers. Send bio and photos.
Email: info@peanutbutternjellyhk.com

MODELS
• NUDE MODEL WANTED [ART CLASS WORKSHOP]
A company in Macau is looking for a NUDE MODEL for an Art Drawing Class. Please send an email to BLOOM with photo and any other reagarded information.
Email: root@bloomland.cn

• WESTERN/MIXED TALENT WANTED [PHILIPS HEADPHONE PRINT AD]
Male and female, age 25-35, Western and mixed, prefer some yoga or dance skill.
Shooting Dates: From 31 March, 2009
Email: info@amusemanpark.com

• MODEL WANTED [BEER TV COMMERCIAL]
Looking for Stunt (Stand In).
• Male (25-35 yrs old)
• Asian (Japanese/ Korean/ Chinese/ Eurasian) & Westerner
Casting until the end of April
Email: casting@filmfactory.net

• SPORTY MODELS WANTED [HEADPHONES PRINT AD]
Peanut Butter ‘n’ Jelly Models and Talent is looking for two models for a headphones print ad. Models should be sporty, not too muscular and have a healthy body shape.
A. Female – 20-30 years old
B. Male – 25-35 years old
Shooting Dates: 30 March – 3 April, 2009 (2 days)
Email: info@peanutbutternjellyhk.com

• TALENT / MODELS WANTED [SUPERMARKET TV COMMERCIAL]
Female 25-30 years old, fluent Cantonese
Casting Date: March 31
Please send your photos & resume.
Email: casting@filmfactory.net

MUSICIANS + SINGERS
• FEMALE OPERA SINGERS [EVENT IN HONG KONG]
Two female opera singers needed on April 24. Urgent request! Please send CV, photos, show reels.
Email: chansproductions@gmail.com

• TRUMPETER OR VIOLINIST WANTED [REGGAE COVER BAND]
This group is looking for a trumpet or violin player to be part of a semi-acoustic reggae type cover band.
Email: kisskendy@hotmail.com

• VOCAL PERCUSSION (BEAT-BOX) CLASSES [AMERICAN VOCAL STUDIO]
The American Vocal Studio is offering classes in Vocal Percussion ‘Beat-Boxing’ presented by Cody J. This is a 4-week course with classes scheduled for Tuesday nights. During the course students will explore the basic techniques for making the drum sounds and creating drum grooves. Anyone can learn, and be warned, it is highly addictive!
Contact: Cody J.
Email: cody@americanvocalstudio.com
Phone: 6906 2746

• WESTERN FEMALE PIANIST WANTED [EVENING SHOW]
Chans Productions is looking for a Western female pianist for an evening show. Please send CV, photos and contacts.
Email: chansproductions@gmail.com

• INDIAN SINGER / VOICE ARTIST WANTED [FILM]
Male or female. Please send contacts and demo.
Email: yungp01@netvigator.com

NON-PERFORMING
• COSTUME ASSISTANT WANTED [FULL TIME, PERMANENT]
A large Hong Kong entertainment company is looking for Full Time Permanent Costume Assistants. Responsible for costume registration, distribution, cleaning and repair.
Requirements: Form 3 or above, basic computer skills, previous experience is preferred.
Applicants with more relevant experience may be considered for higher positions.
Please send CV / Resume.
Contact: hkperform@gmail.com

Go get them!
IF YOU WANT TO BE PART OF OUR CREATIVE NETWORK PLEASE SEND YOUR INFO TO root@bloomland.cn. THANK YOU!
[BACK TO BLOOMLAND]

Vessel One by Adam Farlie

Twenty designers including will exhibit sex toys and other objects on the theme of love in Milan next month, during the furniture fair.
Vessel One, designed by Adam Farlie, is the most original one. It's a bed that asks whether an object can become a substitute for a person. Vessel One was created to replace absent people through sound. This object is always listening, constantly recording the sounds made by those who have lain on it. Designed as a sensitive vessel that captures and contains the ‘audio-memories’ of past occupiers through sound. when Vessel One detects silence, it plays back sound memories at random. Sounds are recalled in the bed in the same way a Memory pops into the mind. One might lie in bed and hear past intimacies, infidelities or conversations from a number of days, weeks or even years ago. Vessel One is made of Corian.

Adam Farlie graduated in 2008 from the Design Academy Eindhoven. He specialises in emotional design. He lives and works in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
[Photo ⓒ Adam Farlie]
• SEE THE OTHER CREATIONS AT THE LOVE DESIGN EXHIBITION

They passed me by this questionnaire and I took up my pen and read it.
I should just answer the truth and nothing else. That was stated on a small red footnote. If not I would not get the job. I was applying at the local circus troupe for this vacancy of a lion tamer. I didn't have any experience with ferocious animals, but that was not a must, you could be just anyone, man or woman. Anyway, the only thing I had were some cats at home. But the question was not about that. I mean "the question" because there was only one on the paper.
"If you could choose, what would be your way of life?"
Well, I scratched my head a bit bringing on stage all my ancestral desires and wishes. Those things you dream when you're young and once you cross your teens you completely forget. Suddenly they were all there on the same table watching my reaction. So I started.
"If I could choose I would be..."
"A millionaire?", I thought. Yes, a millionaire would be a good idea. I would be just a millionaire and that's all. But then, on second thought, that is a very common answer and like that I would never tame the lions. I never heard about any millionaire taming some savage creatures. Have you?
Of course not. So, apart from being a millionaire I should be something else, at least I would need to mention it, and on the way I should verify all my dilapidated memories and dig deep on it. Telling just the truth and nothing else.
And that's how it ends to be the beginning of this story.
[TO FOLLOW] [BACK TO TOP]

Não porque não quisesse.
Não porque não soubesse.

Mas se calhar,
podendo calhar bem,
no confronto com certos egoísmos
e calhava sempre bem,
podia,
esse mesmo escritor,
fazer-se valer da reabilitada desculpa escrita de que nos servimos,
em não querer, entre várias coisas, dividir
lugares pretensamente comuns,
naturalmente dissolvidos por promessas verbais,
na côdea de um silêncio destoante.

With over 100 projects, this book is an encyclopedic look at the cutting edge in garden design and offers an inspirational archive for practitioners and enthusiasts. Contemporary garden design has embraced the latest thinking in science and materials, architecture and product design – redefining the border between nature and the man-made.
One indication of the rise in popularity – and controversy – of these gardens has been the growing number of conceptual garden festivals, which have become the premier international showcases for new ideas.
Avant Gardeners presents the fifty most exciting and innovative contemporary garden- and landscape-design practices from around the world, profiling the work of each designer through informative texts, photographs and plans.
Topical essays explore the underlying principles, and show how a rising generation has rejected the tradition of Western garden design, favouring instead the influences of Modernism, Postmodernism, Pop Art and Land Art.

Tim Richardson is an internationally respected landscape critic. Former landscape editor at Wallpaper*, gardens editor at Country Life and founding editor of New Eden magazine, he is the author of several books, including The Vanguard Landscapes and Gardens of Martha Schwartz and, most recently, The Arcadian Friends: Inventing the English Landscape Garden.

Avant Gardeners • 50 Visionaries of the Contemporary Landscape
By Tim Richardson • Foreword by Martha Schwartz • Introduction by Tim Richardson • THAMES AND HUDSON

Lime & Purple mais uma vez num lugar qualquer, um lugar sem importância, talvez uma Pastelaria.
- Sabes... já não tenho nada a dizer, não tenho paciência, nem para me aprofundar em comentários. Quer dizer com as pessoas com quem raramente lido... já não me apetece fazer nenhum bolo com elas!
- Hmmmm... Tem cuidado para não ficares numa concha, não se pode perder esta abertura ao mundo. Seja quem for... que cada um é como cada qual.
- Mas que mundo, que concha? Que abertura?
- Digo fechado na concha e ao mundo, às pessoas. Acho que é bom não se derrapar e cair no vício. É preciso voltar à tona como a baleia branca, que também serve de metáfora à epifania, ao rasgo de asa. Digo a mim que o que mais temo é a amargura, um certo misantropismo...
- Mas que queres, é que às vezes não me apetece mesmo...
- Nem a mim... mas já te disse isto uma vez, acho que é sempre preciso ultrapassarmo-nos, fugir da natureza... da nossa natureza e estabelecer, digamos, um compromisso.
- É isso às vezes não me apetece... negociar... Deixo-me ir como vou e pronto...
- Mas é assim, aqui onde vivemos, não tem piada, o deixar ir... por isso é preciso tomar uma outra posição.
- Sim, não tem.
- Mas... sei lá...
- Sei lá!
- Outro dia estive na igreja porque me sentia mal fisicamente e estava mal, em desequilíbrio. Fui procurar silêncio, respirar, fazia assim onde vivia antes de vir para esta terra.
- Respira-se mal aqui, o problema é esse... os sentidos respiram mal... enferrujam mais facilmente...
- Não era uma necessidade tanto espiritual... mas de elevação de mim próprio... um pouco de ascese, é isso. Como que procuro viver uma certa ascese e tudo o resto perde a expressão... Não perder de vista o longe, o horizonte, que já não existe como se sabe... como seguir pisando a linha que na praia separa a terra do mar. Isso é o importante.
- Mas isso da ascese nao é pores-te a decorar essa concha?
- Não. É deixar-me lá na concha e no mundo... e sair, ver-me ao longe, observar-me lá em baixo. Mas também é por aí que vamos, a decorar a concha... é uma sedução.
- Às vezes estou tão perto de um certo abismo... que quase o abraço com satisfação... por o reconhecer... por saber que ele me acompanha... atrás de uma certa montanha que também arrasto... mas que não tem espessura. Uma montanha infinita sem espessura... infinita em peso e em tamanho... mas sem expressão... sem sentimento... sem valor... bla bla bla... um reverso qualquer... de uma coisa importante... que é todo o nosso sentido... e que por isso está lá. Ainda hoje quando esperava pelo sinal verde para atravessar a estrada dei com o abismo debaixo de um camião e quase que lhe estendi o braço num compromisso de entre-ajuda. Percebe-se?
- Não! Mas tu percebes, não percebes?
- Mais ou menos... percebo e não percebo... Porque de uma maneira geral o mundo é para não perceber! Porque é mundo...
- Lá estamos nós, mas quem é que quer perceber o mundo? Percebe-se e não se percebe e qual o drama?
- Se um mundo fosse unidade, Lime, talvez se percebessse... mas assim... somos plasticina...
- Plasticina...
- E é na elasticidade que reside a nossa possível felicidade.
- Não somos pedra tens razão mas não é elasticidade, é este estádio intermédio entre o nada e o tudo...
- Que são a mesma coisa... o nada e o tudo, é o que acho... estou sempre a pensar nisso.
- Soundbytes portanto...
- Nada de muito mais ou Cesarinny, portantes! E assim está na hora de me pirar...
- Portantes! Palavra bonita. Quase tão bonita como "ascese."
- Até logo...
E o pano desce.

Bloom * Creative Network have just organized its second party at The Rooftop. It was a great event, everything went just wondrous. Great music, from the Grinderman to stunning Arab beats, and most of the people don't remember how it ended, which is always a good sign. A liaison with a trombone and a guitar took the last breath of the night and St. Paul himself joined us for the last round of Caipiriñas on the ladders of the most famous landmark of Macau. And, yes, we had great disguises, great masks and real homemade productions. Bloom, thankfully, gave some prizes for the best ones. Most remembered will be the prize "Who Wants This Prize?" ;-)
We'd like to thank to the Corner's Club for this unique opportunity, mainly Derek, Sam, Gigi and all the crew of the ship.
And we'll come back very soon with something completely different from a distant place in the world. Stay tuned!

A festa "Traz o Teu Melhor e Disfarce e Mostra o que Realmente És" foi um sucesso. A Bloom agradece a todos os que passaram pelo Rooftop na noite de Sábado e promete trazer muito mais para a pequena Travessa de S. Paulo onde se situa o Corner's Club. Muito obrigado a todos. Até breve!

Caro Sr. Primeiro-ministro,

É assim que deve ser. Simples. O rasto que as palavras de um jornal deixam entre quem as escreve e o seu leitor. À sua frente e na oportunidade de lhe falar e de ser claro, penso em demasiados assuntos que no fundo, de tão misturados, vão delinear coisa nenhuma. É também assim o mundo que temos perante nós, ainda debaixo dos pés. Uma desordem e um embaraço. Acreditar nele, acreditar nas pessoas que o compõem. Dar valor aos seus dirigentes. É de todo um exercício de complexa dificuldade. Haverá diferença entre a telenovela do fim da tarde e o que vivemos no dia-a-dia? O que se vê? E nisto digo entre o estar numa face ou na outra. No lado de cá da tela ou no lado de lá, da ficção, do sonho, do planeta. Do pesadelo? Não se conhece na verdade todo o seu limite, o rosto e a margem que separa e determina todos estes opostos. Ou o logos, que veste toda razão com os seus princípios de inteligibilidade.
Isto são expressões que não pretendia usar e que tornam a língua acre. E no tumulto remonto a uma mistura de saudade com inconformismo e pergunto de novo haverá alguma importância nisso?
Aqui, terra de jogo. De facilidades. Nunca fez tanto sentido a expressão “a árvore das patacas”. Aconteceu em épocas passadas, a corrida ao mesmo Ouro. É apenas uma sequela com outras legendas. Mas cada um vive no seu iraque particular onde o farol é mais a intuição do que a lógica do raciocínio. The world wide web. Que ao sacudir-se das águas se deforma e se mítífica na expressão de um espelho e nessa altura não há nada a fazer, o ecrã já não se desliga.
Conversa da treta, Sr. Primeiro Ministro. O que lhe queria na verdade dizer, sem lhe falar em concreto da gente do seu País que por cá navega, que não tem unidade, talvez seja discorrer acerca do conforto da distância. Do tempo das deslocações. Que me coloca como Estrangeiro ao regressar a qualquer ponto de partida. É um estado híbrido sem identidade em que o pasmo de ficar se sobrepõe à vontade de ir. Uma sensação boa, de zapping. E quanto mais distante melhor, digo-lhe eu, mais se alonga a perspectiva.
Se por vezes me dá a sensação que somos nós, os do sofá, os únicos a ter verdadeiro amor aos desígnios desta terra, sem significado em número mas de importância no espectro social e urbano da cidade, sei que o existir cai para lado nenhum e que nessa inclinação se estende para todos em simultâneo. É essa a natureza que nos encosta a este nicho do mercado e que nos sugere o desejo de resistência. A quê? A coisas más. Aos opostos mundos trocados. Que em informar desinformam. Reflectidos no espantalho dessa coisa que se chama imaginação.
É uma vontade enorme de voltar a ser dinossauro, digo-lhe.
De si? Fale-nos que do passado, do Espaço 1999, se vai começar de novo. Do zero. Sem influência mas com mérito. Que no seu degrau que lhe confere importância fulcral no assumo das decisões. Não por aqui, nem pelo País, mas pelo Mundo. Se erga e faça por nós todos, que temos ainda o chão por baixo. A Vida. O Regresso. A Diferença. De quem está e de quem foi. E que se ultrapasse para lá de qualquer sonho.
E o que fica da sua passagem por Macau? Fica este abraço que lhe envio e o papel que lhe deixo aqui nas suas mãos para que não se esqueça, para lhe dar alguma lembrança, e um domicílio, do que há para fazer.
E rien ne vas plus.

Com muita estima,

António Faisão, Fotógrafo

MCCM Creations, by the hand of the wonderful Mary Chan, started as a publisher in Hong Kong. Their dream was to pubblish beautiful and great books and from the first book they were a world apart. Bloom met MCCM even before we opened and from there on we've mantained a close friendship and venture.
Mary Chan and MCCM flow into the endless possibilities of creativity. Living in an age where people can move freely across boundaries of regions and exercise their thoughts through virtual space. These criss-cross experiences often produce surprises and open up new horizons for thoughts and ideas.
Since going into book publishing since 2001, MCCM aspirations in books have not changed – they wish to bring the original and inspiring books from creators who share a passion in books as well as having a strong desire to explore new concepts and visualise their experiences.
These adventurous spirit often take them across boundaries of different categories. Being a ‘crossover’ appeal to different age and interest groups. Most of the titles are published in English or Bilingual, mostly Chinese and English, with a step into published English and French titles. They don’t publish a lot of books every year, but they do have a special talent to make them.
But now is different. MCCM is giving a step ahead by opening The Bookshop at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. They're running it for a few time now, but the official opening will be held tomorrow with "a casual get-together for books, photography, light drinks, chars and... improvised music by guest musicians Kung Chi Shing and Yank Wong." [click on the image above]

Come with us!
26TH OF FEBRURARY • 6.30 PM • HONG KONG ARTS CENTRE • 2 HARBOUR ROAD • HONG KONG

People ask about my name. Where it comes from. I often don't tell and most of the times I keep quiet, trying to mumble some birdish sound in between my teeth. Then they ask me something else and forget it. Why should I tell anyway? Fuck them, I think, with all those stupid questions. Asking me 'who are you?' or even in the third person, all eyes trembling with a funny face, 'who the hell is Ring Joid?'
As soon as they start, when I'm sitting in front of them, they holding a pen or a sound device to record my voice, I drift away to a faraway land where I find myself driving in the middle of a field full of dry unharvested barley, the sun up high, me raving the engine of some four wheeler bike. And suddenly something else. Crows or other type of straight birds, a swimming pool, some nice girls around, a glass of lemonade. Then how can I pick up with the mind in front of me, searching for glory on some sentence I might tell?
"Hmm?", I say, completely out of mark. And then they repeat the same thing again and again and I take a full breath to keep it on focus for a while.
"Oh, my name...", I restart, sometimes I'm in a good mood, and holding my lemonade in one of my hands I say, "I got my name on this book, with this guy called Holden Caulfield, a kid, you know him, his eldest brother's favourite writer was Ring Lardner, and I don't know why, that flipped my mind."
The other part I don't know, even if they ask me with a hammer I can't tell. I think it was my parents or something. My mom Joy and my father Void. "I really can't tell", I add. Because I never knew my parents but that's what I believe. Or maybe it was the name of a train station or the brand of the tyres on my full roaring bike.
Sometimes I get some piece of paper and I write them the place where they can find something about it. Something like this. And they sort of get happy and turn off the tape and go home. That leaves me satisfied.
[IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GET THE LINK]

The House on Mango Street (1984) written by Sandra Cisneros is one example of contemporary Chicana literature that represents a feminist voice for Mexican-American women. Through the new experimental literary style, she expresses a series of Chicana problems in a male-dominated society, in which people value the idea of ‘machismo’ or the belief that men are superior to women in various aspects.

Although the feminist’s movement has emerged in the US since 1960s as a large group of women has been trying to fight against gender discrimination, it seems only liberal white middle-class women have been able to successfully challenge the power of male supremacy. On the other hand, women of colour, members of ethnic and working class minority, have been excluded from the social mainstream, and their problematic status as ‘the other’ has never evolved. Thus, Mexican-American women have not only struggled for equality with men in their own patriarchal society and the world at large, but they have also tried to find a way to be part of the white-dominated Women’s Movement.

As an ethnic writer from a Mexican-American community, Cisneros does not only create a unique ‘voice’ or what she calls ‘the suppressed voice’ of a Chicana, but she also drives forward a new literary form that is different from the ‘standard’ literary canon of male-writers.

In The House on Mango Street, instead of focusing on the protagonist, Esperanza, and her process of growing from adolescence to adulthood which can generally be found in most coming of age fictions or bildungsroman, Cineros dedicates many vignettes to the lives of other Chicanas on Mango Street through Esperanza’s point of view. As a result, readers can see the development of Esperanza’s self-discovery and self-definition as she narrates along her own stories. Also, her narrations of other female neighbours’ lives show how these powerless women, sharing the same misery in the oppressed society, have a major impact on her perception as a woman growing in a Mexican community. The relationship between Esperanza and these other women helps her, in a dramatic way, to understand herself, and it also motivates her to escape from the Chicano patriarchal society. Additionally, Cisneros’ poetic prose written in fragmentary forms do not only represent the fragmentation of the life of the protagonist who has to search for her identities, but also the way she breaks grammatical rules parallels how Esperanza breaks traditional roles, cultural norms and social expectations of Chicanas.

At the beginning of The House on Mango Street, Cisneros states “A las Mujeres” or “To the Women”, which implies that she dedicates her work to both female readers and Chicana women in Mexican-American society whose lives are portrayed in her fiction. With this assumption in place, Cineros, as a writer, bears in mind that her creativity together with the power of language can free women from the world of silence regardless of their ethnicity.

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros • VINTAGE • 1984

You are still on time. Of the 500 limited copy edition there are a few available just for you.
Created in 1957, the Swiss-born Helvetica font has now become the most iconic typeface and more than a year after its 50th birthday, it continues to fascinate the world. The "Tribute to Typography - Helvetica, Past, Present and Future of the Typography" exhibition was organised at the Laforet Museum in Harajuku.
To celebrate this extraordinary font, Moleskine collaborated with the Helvetica foundation and acclaimed Japanese designers GROOVISIONS to create two special editions of the legendary notebooks (black and red). A limited edition of 500 of each notebooks will be available in very selected retailers in Asia and online at www.moleskineasia.com, to the pleasure of all fans of this legendary font. In Macau you can order it with us, just by throwing an email to Bloom.

HELVETICA • THE FONT
In 1957, Eduard Hoffman and Max Miedinger designed the sans-serif typeface "Helvetica" for movable metal type at Haas Type foundry, Switzerland.
This was first called "Neue Haas Grotesk", and then renamed "Helvetica", which is derived from "Confoederatio Helvetica" meaning Switzerland in Latin, in 1960. Since then, this typeface was diffused rapidly, being used for the Corporate Identities of public facilities and companies, etc., jacket designs of music albums, street displays, and posters.
Then, its derivatives increased, including the modified version "Helvetica Neue", in 1983. Helvetica has been cherished around the world as the most frequently-used typeface over the past half century, and is still outstandingly popular in the present age of digital typography. In Japan, this became a designated typeface for the first time at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, and used as a standard typeface at national events, including the Osaka Expo'70, and now is the unmatched one adopted for the Cls of firms, including JR, products, and fashion.

HELVETICA • THE MOVIE
Helvetica is an independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered around the typeface of the same name. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957.
Its content consists of a history of the typeface interspersed with candid interviews with leading graphic and type designers, including Wim Crouwel, Michael Bierut, Erik Spiekermann, and Massimo Vignelli. The film aims to show Helvetica's beauty and ubiquity, and illuminate the personalities that are behind typefaces

Limited Edition of the "Tribute to Typography - Helvetica, Past, Present and Future of the Typography" exhibition

192 pages • 9x14cm • acid-free paper
Special Edition with Moleskine Hard Black Ruled Notebook.
Design by GROOVISIONS, with logos debossed on both covers, customised banderole and history of Helvetica printed on the backend page.
Limited Edition with 500pcs in Asia.

MOP$198.00 • ORDER NOW

MX-LIBRIS is a new kind of taxi vehicle for the Latin American region. With zero-emissions and an iconic form, it aims for a friendly urban appeal.

MX-LIBRIS is a zero-emissions vehicle incorporating a range of selected technologies from the transportation industry that are appropriate to the Latin American region. The vehicle has been specifically designed as a taxi, taking into consideration the cultural, urban transit, demographic and climate conditions of cities in Latin America. The use of technologies such as fuel cells and “drive-by-wire” make a more optimised use of space by replacing mechanical components with electronic ones and therefore providing more interior space. The vehicle is compact but high to facilitate access for passengers and driver.

The exterior design, which strictly follows its functionality, has been designed to intentionally become an icon of Latin America. Its asymmetric and sui-generis (or unique) form – moving away from typical car styling – make it a memorable object that locals and tourists will recognise as a forward-thinking icon, as opposed to a follower of car trends. The interior design, also asymmetric, responds to the functional needs of both passengers and driver. The interior layout maximises the use of space and promotes interaction between passengers by placing the fourth one facing the other three as well as leaving a central hallway for access.
In terms of sustainability, the design considers several aspects – from the no-emissions technologies to material selection and energy consumption. The aesthetic design does not follow either a sports or family car look because it deliberately aims to create a new segment of public transport with a friendly urban appeal.
[SOURCE RED-DOT]
• CREATED BY ZANIC DESIGN

Macau should just address the importance of these matters and help to create solutions to solve the serious problem of polution in the city. Build a MX-LIBRIS made in Macau, we have everything to learn with this project and use it to carry on, building a bright future. That's why BLOOM is here, to help creating better worlds. Come with us!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcoming the New Year, St. Paul's Corner is joining forces with you for the best expectations of 2009. A unique and great flavour to start the year to come. Forget the troubles and embrace the next year with a big smile full of good hopes. Are not the others who make it happen, who make it good or bad, it's you, you are the one in control! So... what are you waiting for? Make it shine! Make it big! Restart if needed! And Dance all night long!
Located on the heart of the most Famous Historical Landmark of Macau, the Corners Club, in collaboration with Bloom * Creative Network, invite you for a delightful evening of fun and joy. With live music, DJ's, Stand-up mike performances and a dance floor to twinkle the best beat on you. Don't miss it!

VENUE: St. Paul's Corner - The Corner's Club Rooftop Bar
ADDRESS: Travessa de S. Paulo 3,5 & 7
ORGANIZED BY: The Corners Club and Bloom * Creative Network
WITH: Beto Ritchie, DJ Kunming and Buds
DATE: 31st of December, 2008 - 10 pm
FEE: 80 MOP (60 MOP on advanced booking*) - Entrance + Countdown Champagne
* You can book your entrance by email: cornersclub@ymail.com or root@bloomland.cn / by phone SMS: (+853) 66821066 or (+853) 66800024 - stating your name and contact.

[MORE INFO AT: www.stpaulscorner.com and www.bloomland.cn]

Fundação Oriente inaugura exposição fotográfica sobre Timor - verbas revertem a favor de projecto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, Timor-Leste

Uma exposição fotográfica sobre as gentes e paisagens de Timor-Leste vai estar patente na Galeria da Casa Garden da Fundação Oriente durante um mês, com inauguração marcada já para esta sexta-feira, dia 19, pelas 18:30. As fotografias de “Timor-Leste – Olhares Emergentes de uma Terra” são da autoria de Fernando Madeira, um conhecido fotógrafo de Macau e membro da associação “naTerra – Associação de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável”.
Com esta mostra pretende-se angariar verbas para a próxima iniciativa da associação “naTerra”: “Raio de Sol – um projecto de sustentabilidade em Timor Leste”, em que o grupo se propõe a construir um Centro Comunitário de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, contribuindo para que a população se torne mais auto-suficiente através do desenvolvimento de infra-estruturas, educação e partilha de competências. Conseguindo reunir as verbas necessárias, cinco dos elementos da associação partem para Timor em finais de Fevereiro do próximo ano.
“naTerra” é uma associação sem fins lucrativos que desenvolve projectos na área da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Fundada em Macau, surge da união de várias pessoas com o objectivo comum de criar soluções ecologicamente saudáveis, economicamente viáveis e socialmente justas, particularmente a nível comunitário.
A “naTerra” participou recentemente no Festival da Lusofonia apresentando, no Auditório do Carmo, o projecto “Raio de Sol” e uma colecção de fotografias de Timor. São estas fotografias que ficam agora à venda na Casa Garden até dia 19 de Janeiro de 2009. A exposição está aberta todos os dias entre as 10h00 e as 19h00. As receitas revertem inteiramente a favor do projecto “Raio de Sol”.
• Para mais informações consulte a página www.naterra.org ou contacte a associação através de info@naterra.org.
• Artigo no Hoje Macau, por José Manuel Simões, sobre este projecto.
[A presente exposição conta ainda com o patrocínio do Café Ou Mu]

Art for All is celebrating its 1st anniversary at St. Paul’s Fine Art gallery tomorrow, 8th of December, with a cocktail party at 6:30pm. Concurrently more than ten local prominent artists, including Konstantin Bessmertny, James Chu, Bianca Lei, James Wong, José Drummond, Cindy Ng, Ung Vai Meng, Ng Fong Chao, Tong Chong, Kent Ieong and João O, will display their works for rummage sale to raise funds for the art group’s 2009 operation.

Art for All is a non-profit association founded on 8th December 2007 by a group of Macao artists with the aim to promote the contemporary art development of Macao. Supported by the private organization St Paul’s Corner , in December 2007 Art for All moved to Travessa de S. Paulo to open and manage the gallery “St. Paul’s Fine Art” and six artist studios. In 2008 the gallery has already held seven solo and two collective exhibitions of Macao artists showcasing 100-odd art pieces, presenting local artists’ creative outcome in the past year. Furthermore, Art for All has organized artists to participate in large scale international art events such as the “Beijing Art Fair 2008” in September and the “2008 ACAF NY – Asia Contemporary Art Fair New York” in November, striving to promote Macao’s contemporary art overseas.

Apart from the Macao artistic base “St. Paul’s Fine Art”, Art for All sought development beyond the region. In October, it set up the Beijing Art for All Contemporary Art Exchange Center located at the 318 Art Garden in Beijing. Its debut exhibition - the “Macao Contemporary Art Exhibition” featuring 15 Macao artists and 24 representative works - has received wide acclaim from the mainland artistic community. It provides not only a window for introducing Macao artworks to the dynamic art market in Beijing, but also a platform for artistic exchanges, creating opportunities for local artists to develop in the capital.

On the same occasion, Art for All will unveil a commissioned installation work “High Ladder” by João O who is a Master of Art course student at the Barcelona University of Spain. The artist hopes to share his latest creative work with the audience.
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