APRIL 2020 FINDS

april 2020 finds is in time. because i had plenty of time, right? once again, the cover photo is pre-corona.

1.i finished the abysmal kids are not ok by ionut chiva. the story line was not credible and it got lost in a myriad of meaningless details. i didn’t think it was possible to use the juicy wealth of expletives of the romanian language in such a dry and inconsequential manner. or to write just 20 words about key events while going on and on for pages describing the comings and goings of dogs. if you take out all the (unfortunately boring) dog stuff, a quarter of the book is gone and it won’t even affect the story line in any way. you are not allowed for one second to forget the underwhelming writer behind it all. there is no smooth flow at any point.

i am angry, because i’m tired of books that steal my money, nerves and time.

2. this looks like something i might’ve post already. here it goes anyway. courtney love answers the questions of kate moss and other famous names.

3. timothee chalamet interviewed by harry styles.

4. i first saw michael craig-martin‘s work in seoul, in 2017. i still have the flyer of the show. i like the flat design.

5. an interesting self-taught ramen chef.

6. the sad reality of being a black woman in brazil nowadays.

7. a beautiful japanese cemetery.

8. a king crule concert on arte. it was louder than expected.

9. check out this butter poet and his work.

10. we went out to pick up groceries one day and saw porto empty.

11. you have below the 3 episodes of bbc the art of japanese life. try to ignore the ridiculousness of the exact same sharp outfit everywhere from central Tokyo to forests and beaches. also, try to ignore the pompous discourse of the presenter and enjoy japan in all its glory.

12. by chance, i was in hayabusa’s maiden voyage back in 2011, from aomori to tokyo. chris broad is showing us how a trip in the new first class feels.

13. this is an old video about the anish kapoor show in beijing.

14. imagine living with your significant other in an 18 sqm house in tokyo.

15. i like this kid!

16. araki only has one disciple. she is a woman and has always been interested in the male nude.

17. a small apartment transformed in a hangout.

18. learn all about narcissists and the dynamic of a relationship with one on this channel. you will discover you have plenty around you.

19. dancers and athletes are having a hard time indoors. check out the workout routine of this quarantined ballerina. i looked her up and found several videos with her and her brooklyn apartment..

20. eye-opening video about how vulvas are seen in western society.

21. i had free time so i finished three monocle issues. i’ve already bought the may issue so i’m not done.

22. i also discovered the monocle youtube channel.

23. last month i posted the first 2 episodes of almodovar’s lockdown diary, in spanish. here you have the 3rd and the 4th episode. also, they were translated into english: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

24. i watched arakimentari. i was very triggered by the ease with which araki finds it ok to touch the models’ vulvas and brag about sleeping with them. it’s a fact that japan still has big problems with sexism, but wow!

25. i discovered a few lana del rey songs i like: venice bitch, art deco, in my feelings and, my absolute favourite, the airy heroin. neither is new. so i decided i should be listening to full albums to stop good tracks sliding by me, unknown.

26. i bought system a few months ago, but i’ve only read it this month. i really liked the in-depth interviews. yohji yamamoto interviewed by rick owens. caius pawson from young turks record company. stephen jones. pierre hardy. tomo koizumi. and i liked the final section where dozens of people spoke about their first professional break.

my favourite find was leslie winer. i’ve known her from vivienne westwood’s ads. but it was a pleasure to read more about her.

the choice of people is good, not based on trends or klout. it may seem expensive at 20 euros, but it’s huge and it has a lot of good original content. i’ll buy it again.

27. we’ve been to the beach a couple of times. each time was short, but it still mattered.

28. it’s not new, but it’s hard to forget. and the video is very good.

29. an onigiri shop i’m planning to visit.

30. i watched paris, texas. long, slow and the pay off comes right at the end. i loved the kid! he was wonderful.

then i went on wiki and found out that nastassja kinski was with her on-screen lover harry dean stanton for 10 years. and that her famous real life father nearly sexually abused her. nevertheless, the film got a palme d’or among many other awards. watch it.

31. i finished reading dancing with the tiger by lili wright. it’s not bad. it was interesting to follow the technical aspects. i especially enjoyed following the multi pov approach. i guess i cannot read like a normal person anymore.

32. a video with michele lamy and her daughter.

33. i’ve started watching the 26 episodes of neon genesis evangelion. it’s a little outdated since it aired in 1995-96, but it’s not bad.

34. a dear friend sent me an album of portuguese sound called processions of time. interesting.

35. every once in a while, i check the updated list of the pe bune podcast. this time, i listened to the serban pavlu and corneliu porumboiu interviews. very good. fyi, the podcast is in romanian.

36. a humming bird-shaped drone is able to witness secrets.

37. google digital workshop offers a series of online courses. i took a few: public speaking, business communication and such. i found interesting techniques i’m planning to use.

38. i’ve started taking japanese lessons! i love yuta’s program. he’s sending one small lesson every day, for one month. he promised he will keep the lessons coming as he makes them. japanese is a hard language to learn, but the program introduces a detail every day so it’s not overwhelming. hopefully, i will end up being able to make the simplest conversation. greatly recommended.

39. i read el diario del dibujante. it’s a comic created by paco roca last year, as part of the show he had for the 30th anniversary of ivam. interesting and fun, as always.

40. a post card from empty porto.

41. i started rewatching hayao miyazaki‘s films. i’ve seen them, i love them, so why not? if you have not seen them, you must! i promise you will like them.

we started with spirited away. it’s as wonderful as ever.

42. we watched laputa: castle in the sky, too. i like the fact that most strong characters in miyazaki’s films are girls or women. i liked dola, the pirate mama, with her thick braids coming out of her pilot cap.

43. and then howl’s moving castle. my favourite was heen, the weezing dog.

44. next, kiki’s delivery service. watching them all in a row, i notice the strong european vibes.

45. princess mononoke is another miyazaki hit. it’s about the eternal fight between nature and man.

46. last this month: ponyo. together with totoro, this is the most suited for children.

47. like probably everybody else, i find myself cooking more often. i try out new things. for instance, i cooked gizzards for the first time! it turned out tasty. gizzards aka moelas are very popular in porto. they are usually served with bread, as a tapa-sized petisco, a snack. another grown up game i play nowadays is watching out for the expiration dates on all of the stock.

48. i noticed that i gathered 12 issues of vogue portugal. this means i’ve been here for one year. i was not buying vogue espana while i was there. because it was not as interesting. beside the interesting format and content, vogue portugal is smart enough to offer great subscription deals.

49. i have recently adopted the new habit of spending at least half an hour on every sunny morning on my balcony. one day, i noticed this aura around the sun. it was a rainbow! it’s also called sun dog and it’s light reflected by suspended ice particles. i was impressed!

50. i enjoyed this test to determine your kind of creativity.

51. a nice little video by katsuya terada about deep japan and live drawing.

52. do you like the kills?

53. a modern chapel in central helsinki.

54. a kyoto festival called jidai matsuri.

55. i’ve been following aki inomata for a while. i even wanted to go to nantes at the end of 2018 to see her show.

56. have you ever wondered how life is for the blind? molly is a youtubber with 2 million subscribers!

57. i first saw tommy cash in bed with rick owens and michelle lamy. he’s an estonian secondary school dropout, former dancer who’s currently an artist and rapper. he sounds like die antwoord. but his self-directed videos and instagram are fire!